vodka dosing?

[dv3]

what the purpose of dosing vodka ? ....have you had any luck with it?

[Austintatious]

Originally Posted by dv3

what the purpose of dosing vodka ? ....have you had any luck with it?

Just our way of telling the fish we love them... I tried giving them cigarettes too but they just go out when they hit the water.

[Seaweed88]

I hope this helps.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

[likemike99]

not mine- forget where I got it from but helped me alot.
Dosing Instructions

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These instructions will focus solely on using 80 proof vodka (40% ethanol by volume). They do not pertain to other organic carbon sources that are also currently used, including common table sugar (sucrose) and vinegar (sodium acetate). The dosing instructions below were as dictated by Jörg Kokott and have been used successfully by us.

2. Test your system’s NO3 and PO4 levels. Do not dose if you do not know this! We recommend good test kits that have some low level of sensitivity. This will be important later on to determining a maintenance dose regimen. During the initial dosing test often and adjust dosing parameters as needed as each tank’s requirement will be different. Dosing accuracy is of the utmost importance. A graduated measurement tool such as a syringe will come in handy. A journal of additions and test kit measurements is recommended.
3. Estimate your Net Water Volume (NWV) of your system. (Aquarium volume + sump + refugium + reactor volumes) – (live rock displacement). It can be difficult to accurately measure the amount of water being displaced by the live rock. If unsure of the volume of live rock we suggest taking 30% off your display tank’s Gross Water Volume. For vodka dosing there is absolutely no harm in underestimating the Net Water Volume and is recommended.

As an example, let us assume that your setup contains 100 Net Gallons.

2. The starting dosage is 0.1ml of vodka per 25 gallons (~100 liters) NWV daily continued for three days. For 100 Net Gallons, your dosage would be 0.4ml daily during this period. It has been suggested to cut the daily dosage in half and dose twice daily for more consistency.
3. Days 4-7, double the daily dosage to 0.2ml of vodka per 25 gallons NWV. Your example dosage would be 0.8ml daily during this period.
4. Each subsequent week add an additional 0.5ml of vodka regardless of aquaria volume. At this point your example dosage during week two would be 1.3ml daily. If you do not see nutrient levels decrease during this week, the following week add an additional 0.5ml for a daily dosage of 1.8ml daily.
5. When your NO3 and PO4 levels start to drop maintain the current dose. For example, if you were on week two when NO3 start to fall on 100 Net Water Volume you would add 1.3mL daily at this time for the continuing weeks until the NO3 becomes undetectable.
6. When your NO3 and PO4 levels drop near undetectable with your test kits cut your current dose in half. This will be your starting maintenance dose (if the levels drop during week 2 then the dose after reaching undetectable levels would be 0.65ml daily [1.3ml divide by 2]).
7. Continue to test for NO3 and PO4. If levels become detectable in the future increase your daily dose by 0.1ml increments per week until the levels start to decrease. If you maintain that dose the levels will eventually drop back to undetectable. This would become your new maintenance dose.

Throughout your dosing, observe your livestock daily to look for any signs of stress. If stress of any sort is noticed stop dosing, or at a minimum cut back by reducing your dose in half. If for some reason you cannot remember if you’ve added for that day skip it. It is better to accidentally miss a dose than add twice as much (a journal will keep this from occurring). Never double the dose for missing a prior day!

Table 1. 40 Proof Vodka

Table 2. 80 Proof Vodka

Table 3. 100 Proof Vodka

Table 4. 160 Proof Vodka

For ease of use these tables have been generated to reflect a dosing schedule regimen for different common proofs of vodka. They follow the directions stated above and are rounded off to the nearest tenth decimal for simplicity. With use of these tables if you notice NO3 / PO4 dropping do not increase as stated within the table for the following weeks but follow the directions above starting at #6.

[dv3]

lol ...that looks like the link the guy above you posted ...probably where you got it ....thanks guys

anyone tried this with any noticeable differences?

[fihsboy]

Yes. I am using it currently. Be careful dosing it. And dose VERY slowly. And you need to boost your bacteria population here and there to keep them diversified. But it works amazingly. I started way too fast.....and killed some stuff. Well im back for round two and I have been doing it three weeks again. Up to .5 ml a day. And its making a noticable difference. I have to overfeed to keep my system balanced. It works very well. I used to feed a cube every three days......I now dose a cube a day and sometimes a little more. Read up on it a LOT. and do NOT overdose your tank. Its better to skip a day than to overdose. I went from .1 ml daily to .5 ml daily in the last three weeks. I am using 80 proof. And its potent. I know .5 ml sounds insanely small....but its plenty to get your bacteria population booming. I used sugar before I ever heard about vodka.......being a student in biology and knowing bacteria feed off of sucrose.....I gave sugar a try and it works just as well. But again moderation is key.

[jenglish]

one of my local buddies used a combo of vinegar sugar and vodka and thought they favoured different strains of bacteria for more biodiversity. I have not tried it but my reef leans more to LPS/softies so it's not really my cup of tea.

[Loverotties]

I wonder how someone tried this at 1st.Maybe didn't want to drink alone and desided to give some to the fish?

[Jnicho]

I've seen good results on some tanks...however, like Jeng my tank has a lot of soft and LPS corals...I've tried both the Vodka and VSV methods...in both cases many of my corals responded negatively.

[jenglish]

In a nutshell you are adding food for bacteria to bind up N and P and then be skimmed out. You need a good skimmer for this to work. It tries to recreate the nutrient desert of the reeftop, with an influx of bacteria for coral to feed on. It is like anything else, it has it's benefits but it's risks as well.

[aquawolf]

Very interesting concept and I can see where it might be beneficial in an sps dominated tank.

[fihsboy]

My sps LOVE it when i use the vodka.....my Lps arent crazy about it. The key is moderation.