Getting Ready to Dose Vodka

[mschum]

I'm thinking about vodka dosing my tank. I have a large algae problem that I have not been able to get rid of for about a year. My goal is to reduce phosphates and eventually eliminate the need (or cut down the need) for GFO. I also want to increase feeding someday. I have added an ATB 840 skimmer to my system a couple of months ago and my tank is a 90 so I think I should be okay. Here's a current (embarrassing) pic of the tank now and my parameters. I'll post updates through the process.

Nitrates 0 (Salifert)
Phosphates Averaging .07 (Hanna phosphate checker) Seems to fluctuate based on how much algae I manually remove. If I remove a lot, then it goes up, if I let it grow then it goes down. I think it is bound in my rocks or my sand.
Alk 10 (elos)
Calcium 335 (salifert, working on raising it)
Mag 1305 (Salifert)

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[dsmithdbz]

you do have pretty corals tho! yes do need to get that calcium to about 450...how long has this tank been setup?

 

[mschum]

It's been setup since March 2010. I really didn't have problems until roughly August of last year. There was some neglect last year due to my daughter being born, and since then I just can't kick this algae.

 

[mgr111]

We have been vodka dosing our 200 reef tank system for about 5 months now. You really need to introduce it very slowly. We started off at about 0.5 ml for the first week and then went up by 0.5 ml per week until we found the right level to keep everything happy. We were checking all of our water parameters 3 to 4 times each week during the dosing increasing. We are now at 8 ml and have been at that level for around 3 months. Everything is working great....

Edit: I agree about calcuim being at 450.

Check this out:

 

[edulover]

I have a liter bottle of vodka that bought when I dosed for a few weeks but it didn't work out. I stopped dosing when my sps started lightening up. You can barely tell anything is gone from the bottle. This might not be worth it for you in Canton though.

 

[mschum]

While I agree calcium is low, I do not think it is linked to my phosphate/algae problem since over the past year calcium has been high for a while as well as within range for a while. That being said, it does make sense to me to get calcium resolved before dosing vodka as it seems this would make life easier on the corals during dosing. Thanks for the input, I will hold off another month or so and get calc. Dialed in first.
Thanks for the offer on the vodka! That is however, something I have more than adequate supply! I probably have enough on hand for a few years!
I was thinking .3ml starting dose, but maybe even lower?
I did also pick up a sea hare last week and need to give him some time to eat, but i fear i will still have phosphates.

 

[gregoryleonard]

IMHO, You also need to bring up your Mg to 1350 minimum, but closer to 1400 if you can, since Ca, Ak, and Mg are at the appropriate levels provide optimal stability to your water.

 

[mschum]

gregoryleonard;791429 wrote: IMHO, You also need to bring up your Mg to 1350 minimum, but closer to 1400 if you can, since Ca, Ak, and Mg are at the appropriate levels provide optimal stability to your water.

Can you provide any information to support that? I'm currently aiming for 1300 Mg based on this article?

 

[purplegorilla]

From what I remembered without googling. Magnesium should be 3 times the amount of Calcium. Thats the easiest way for me to memorize something.

 

[snowmansnow]

IMO thats a substantial algae problem.
Is that CYANO? If so then you are not only dealing with algae, but a bacteria.

When you set this tank up did you purchase new LR or buy from another person? The reason I asked is that older LR can harbor lots of things that make algae grow

If it is cyano you could try chemiclean (which works), but be advised of the risks...

You have some pretty corals there, but you MAY think about a rock reboot if you really want to try and cut this problem down. Dry pukani from BRS would work fantastically .

Edit: oh.. and per your OP..

I'm not sure I'd dose vodka in this situation.. PARTICULARLY if this is cyano .. vodka is simply put a food for bacteria (a carbon source).. if cyano already has a stonghold you'll just be feeding it.

I feel that to effectively dose a carbon source you're going to have to introduce a desired bacterial strain along with it, before "bad" bacteria gets involved

 

[mschum]

It is not cyano. I believe it is red hair algae. Definately not cyano.

 

[mschum]

When you set this tank up did you purchase new LR or buy from another person? The reason I asked is that older LR can harbor lots of things that make algae grow

I purchased the rock live from a local store. The tank ran for over a year without major problems so I don't think it was something that was imported with the rock. I suspect maybe I had problems with my RO at the time I started having problems but I didn't have a good phosphate test at the time. My tap water tests .4 phosphates, if my RO was not working, I'm thinking that's when the rock could have built up the phates.

 

[mschum]

Here is an update on my tank. I'm still on the fence about vodka dosing. I think I might have figured out some issues that I was having with my GFO regeneration process and phosphates appear to be coming down. I'm now regenerating exactly as the article in Advanced Aquarists explains. I had a sea hare for a couple weeks but sadly he didn't make it. I'm pretty sure I might have killed him after doing some plumbing work (installed herbie overflows) and did not let the PVC glue dry long enough. I am going to add another one from a member that has been in an his tank for a while. If that one dies, then I'll try to figure out if I have another problem. The one I had was definately eating the algae though, so I have my fingers crossed. I'm thinking if I can get phates down in the water column and get something to eat the existing algae, then I might be on the right track. Tank still looks pretty darn overun though. Here's a current tank pic and a video showing that it is in fact some kind of algae, and not cyano.

Nitrate = 0
Phosphate = .04
Mag = 1275
Calcium = 340
Alkalinity = 10

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[ralph atl]

With a decent test kit for trates, tropic Marin, Elos, Salifert......among others you want your trates below 0.5 IF you have stony corals.

If your trates are above 0.5, you'll need to have a system in place, whether large weekly water changes, sulphur, bio pellets, or carbon dosing.

I've been carbon dosing for about 6 years with excellent results....albeit not perfect.....

here ya go!

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php"><span style="color: #22229c">http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php</span></a>


[IMG]http://www.saltytank.com/viewguide.php?ID=176"><span style="color: #22229c">http://www.saltytank.com/viewguide.php?ID=176</span></a>


and here:

[IMG]http://glassbox-design.com/2008/the-vsv-method-faq/"><span style="color: #22229c">http://glassbox-design.com/2008/the-vsv-method-faq/</span></a>


That will tell how to start...


I do have to dose chemi-clean about 3-4 times a year to get rid of cyno....not a big deal if you follow directions to the letter....it's been about six months so far though without dosing lately...
I just use HC gfo & rox carbon in addition. change weekly to every 10 days.

phates at 0.03 or less....