Let's see 'em - Before and After pics of Vodka Dosing!

[Paul_PSU]

I add my doses directly to my tank. I just put it right in front of the powerhead. I just have a Tupperware container and a syringe.

[southstar066]

paul how long have you been doing it ...and do you see ne side effects?
also i just have a stockj skimmer on my solana ...will that be enough..or should i wait till i can buy the tunze?...my current skimmer is pulling out a ton of skimmates though

[Paul_PSU]

I have been dosing a little over 3 months. This was the only thing that got my nitrates down to zero. I am still not phosphate free but getting there slowly. I have not noticed any side effects. I have a dsb in tank, and also dose biodigest and AA's. My colors have definitely got better but that is because I feed more often now and dose AA's. I only fed my tank twice a week before. Now I alternate feeding Rod's food (reef) and Reef Nutrition Oyster feast every other day. I also feed Ocean nutrition Marine pellets for the fish daily. So some days the fish get fed twice per day when I feed Rod's food. My Nitrates do not go up at all. I dose the vsv mixture 1ml/per day. I started with just vodka at .4ml per day then every week I would bump it up another .1 until my nitrates hit zero. I just started the vsv mixture a week ago. I am holding at 1 ml for the next couple of weeks to make sure. I have mostly frags in my tank with green cap colony some zoa's and two clams. I am still a noob as far as sps go.

[southstar066]

yea im def still a noob at sps...only about 6 months sps....what is the vsvmixture? does that have to do with the vodka dosing

[volcom69]

Im still kind of confused here, if my tank has no algea present in it, but my po4 test at 0.03(hanna), and no3=2.5, which they are pretty low, but some of my corals are still ugly brown. Should i try dosing vodka in small amounts to try to get the no3 to 0 and bring down the po4 some. Im just tryin to find a good way to lower it and also get some good color back. I always thought i was nutrient lacking because of the no algea in the tank, but there must be something going on because of brown corals. Any ideas should i try the vodka, thanks

[Mykel Obvious]

Originally posted by volcom69
Im still kind of confused here, if my tank has no algea present in it, but my po4 test at 0.03(hanna), and no3=2.5, which they are pretty low, but some of my corals are still ugly brown. Should i try dosing vodka in small amounts to try to get the no3 to 0 and bring down the po4 some. Im just tryin to find a good way to lower it and also get some good color back. I always thought i was nutrient lacking because of the no algea in the tank, but there must be something going on because of brown corals. Any ideas should i try the vodka, thanks

You'll have to ask someone else about the numbers, but I've seen .03 quoted as good for PO4

Remember that some corals are just brown... was the piece in question every not brown? If so, how long did it take to brown out? What lighting are you using? Are you dosing Amino Acids or feeding heavily? ULNS tanks need high nutrient addition combined with high nutrient export (like Carbon dosing and heavy skimming) for the corals to be at their best colors. Other trace elements can be lacking as well

There are a ton of other factors that can lead to brown corals... as you have low nutrients and little to no algae, I would look into feeding more and/or AAs, but I also suggest you list all tank parameters and equipment (lights, skimmer, bulb age, light cycle, etc) so someone can give a more complete evaluation of why you might have brown coral

[volcom69]

Thanks, yea ive asked on a couple of threads, like i said i have no algae on live rock or none really in the tank, and my refugium cant grow cheato at all, and what i do have its coverd in coraline. Thats what confuses me to ive heard that 0.03 is ok for po4, and i was going to feed more but i was alittle nervous about it. Also not all corals are brown in fact some look great, and yes the brown coral was some kind of purple color, and i do see the hint of purple in there. My worst coral right now is my green slimer its so dark brown, but yet the poylps are bight green (weird). So im just tryin to figure out whats best to do with my tank, and i am starting to add zeo AA, but a little nervous on that to. I skim very heavy i empty it like every 3 days, and its a big collection cup.
Lights 2-250 watt xm 20k and are about 3 months old oh and i have 2x54watt t5 actincs. and all lights 8 inches above water.
skimmer-asm skimmer rated for twice my tank
flow=2vortechs+my return pump
Parm=cal-450
alk-8.6-9
mag-1300
po4-0.03
no3-2.5
Its just frustrating, and im sure eventully ill figure something out but just seeing if i can figure out what works best. Thanks

[Mykel Obvious]

Ok, from what you've listed, I'd say you are already at a ultra low nutrient state (which is where I hope to be someday) and all your other parameters are good... lights are fine as well

I'd definitely vote feed more and AA's... from everything I've read that's all you are missing... just go slow and keep an eye out for nuisance algae... if any shows up (which I doubt from your skimmer size and wonderful amount of flow)... if you get a bit of green on the glass or rocks, then you might start dosing a maintenance dose of vodka, but all it does is help the bacteria reduce NO3 and PO4, which I don't think you need yet

[AD87]

Any updates Mike?

[miwoodar]

Me Mike? If me, I'm in a new tank these days. I have a build thread going in the red house. I'm not carbon dosing at the moment but I intend to start again in the not so distant future.

[Kellsindell]

Originally posted by Genetics
However, I failed to document by photography.

Have you taken pics since this post? If so, lets see some of your befores then afters it's been 7mo, lets see them!

[Genetics]

Sorry I don't have anything from before dosing. I started with this tank setup before I really had any corals in it. But this is some of the stuff I've taken over the past few months. Most of these have grown from 1" frags over the past year.

[Kellsindell]

Wooh! looking good.

[Daniel.luu]

Hi,

I'm been dosing for 3-4 weeks now. I have the algae bloom and also white stringy thing in my sump. I have cut my dosage back to .6ml from 1.3ml/day. Should I stop dosing completely until the white stringy disappeared and algae are gone?

The only thing I dose are AA and Vodka. Is it necessary to add vinegar and sugar?

Please help.

I have a total 75 net gallon.

[scuba connor]

if i have a 65 gal how much would i put in a day ? what type ? dose it matter were i add it and dose it matter how many fish i have ?

thanks,
connor

P.S. dose it just help with color or dose it also help growth?

[Genetics]

Daniel.luu cut back until you find a dose that rids your stringy substance. Keep at that dose for awhile and then slowly increase higher if nitrates are still an issue.

Scuba connor, check out this article. I think it should answer most, if-not-all, of your questions.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...nftt/index.php

[scuba connor]

thanks

[Reefer08]

What kind of supplements do you guys recommend dosing along with vodka??? I was thinking some Zeovit Sponge power and coral vitalizer would go along well with vodka. Anything else?

[Genetics]

Heavy feeding should take care of most needs. I've been playing around with additives recently and honestly you can feed more meaty foods to the tank or add AA supplements. Either way works. For other supplements, unless you're trying to modify coral colors, I really wouldn't waste the money.

[triton77]

How did dosing vodka to reef tanks come about?..........and who came up with the idea?

[tatoofr]

Some guy was drunk one night and threw some in his tank.

[Heinz]

Originally posted by triton77
How did dosing vodka to reef tanks come about?..........and who came up with the idea?

first time i heard about was in 2004, when Jörg Kokott and Michael Mrutzek puplished an artikel about vodka dosing in a german reefmagazin,

Jörg and Micheal posted about vodka in a german forum also,

how much to dose and what to look for and stuff like that,

[Heinz]

at second thought, i think it was in 2003 already,

after the artikel from Jörg and Michael, vodka dosing was all the rage in gemany,

[Reefer08]

Originally posted by Genetics
Heavy feeding should take care of most needs. I've been playing around with additives recently and honestly you can feed more meaty foods to the tank or add AA supplements. Either way works. For other supplements, unless you're trying to modify coral colors, I really wouldn't waste the money.

Do you think I should increase the amount of fish in my tank? My bio load is very light right now.

[SunnyX]

These pics are before and after Vodka, less than 2 months apart:

December 08


February 09


I feel the Vodka cleared my water up allowing more light in along with helping bind PO4 for exportation via the skimmer.