My tank was overdosed with Vodka, any long term problems?

[camellia]

20 hours ago a cup of vodka was added to my tank instead of 4 Ml.
Fish are swimming good and ate fine. Corals look good, brains look awesome but my Anemone has been moving around continuously, staggering.. (JK). Buts its never left its rock before and it's moved 3 times (twice in 3 hours) since I've been home and has larger bubbles than ever before.
I've been away and a reefer/friend feed and dosed my tank. When I came in the door the smell of Vodka was very obvious to all, really odd!
My friend had to fly out early yesterday and returned very late. He stopped by my house very late and tired (what a great friend) and accidently grabbed the container of Vodka that's used to extract 4 Ml to dose daily (instead of premeasured container of Kent Tech M) and dumped it. When I moved last month the plan was to go to my new 4' 75 gal but I found a 1 x 1 patch of Byropsis and put upgrade on hold, haven't got Apex running either.
I've been dosing Tech M for 10 days, Mag is 1300. To do a water change would cause a large, quick Mag drop. Vodka seems to be disapating into the air (house reeks), tank looks good.

Anyone know of any potential problems this could cause, have any advise or precautions I should take?
Thank you

 

[nickg]

Drunk fish??

 

[ace1204]

Not sure, hope everything works out, id do a nice size water change, how long ago was the vodka put in the tank?

 

[mcphock]

Your ORP is going to be what you're concerned with. Bacteria use carbon, nitrate, phosphate and oxygen</em> to grow. Look for signs of respiratory trouble, but sounds like you dodged a bullet.

 

[camellia]

ace1204;912571 wrote: Not sure, hope everything works out, id do a nice size water change, how long ago was the vodka put in the tank?[/re

Ace it was 24 hours ago.
I would rather not mess with the mag? Don't ya think considering appearance? I've been making water since I walked in so I've got 20 gallons to do a large WC but wonder if the fast drop would be worse as everything is still looking good 24 hours later?

Edit:

Your ORP is going to be what you're concerned with. Bacteria use carbon, nitrate, phosphate and oxygen</em> to grow. Look for signs of respiratory trouble, but sounds like you dodged a bullet.

I've got carbon running but don't understand what you mean "use nit & phos to grow?
Please expand.
Thanks

 

[ralph atl]

an airstome or two would have been a good idea, but you should be fine now.

 

[rjrgroup]

Get them in a program, it's going to be a difficult road for them to get off the bottle.:fish:hic-up...

 

[miami dolfan]

any swimming sideways?

 

[rdnelson]

The fish used to say "Blub, blub, blub". Now the say "Slub, hic, Slub".


ARC....so nerdy our President breaks bones while bowling.

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

I would do a normal water change and add oxygen to the tank. Your mag shouldn't drop at all with a normal water change. Most salts hold mag at around 1300. The oxygen will help bind to whatever alcohol is remaining and dissipate it plus it would aid should any fish have respirtory issues.

 

[ringo®]

You might find Ted Kennedy in there when you wake up.

 

[redstang]

Ringo®;912625 wrote: You might find Ted Kennedy in there when you wake up.

LOL!:lol2:

Sorry, I know the situation at hand is serious, but that's funny!

 

[camellia]

i love you guys, advice and a good laugh both help when under stress?

The slim is crazy in skimmer, filter sock and filter so somthing isnt happy. I did do a water change (needed help) I didn't mention I had minor surgery on both feet which makes a water change a major ordeal. Anemone is still traveling behind the rocks. Fish are eating like pigs! Tanks looks fine but obviously somthing isn't happy. Another water change as much as I hate it but I'm feeling VERY lucky at this point.
Thanks

 

[snowmansnow]

its a carbon source, so I would double up on water changes so you don't get a cyano bloom.

 

[braselton4]

Can I ask how 1 cup was mistaken for 4 ml's?

 

[mcphock]

Camellia;912574 wrote:
I've got carbon running but don't understand what you mean "use nit & phos to grow?
Please expand.
Thanks

Not sure how I missed this yesterday. Sorry for the long response time.

The entire concept behind carbon dosing is to reduce nitrate and phosphate quickly and effectively. The addition of a large amount of carbon (in a necessarily carbon deficient system) is the catalyst to trigger a bacterial bloom. As the bacteria utilize the carbon, they also consume nitrate, phosphate and oxygen to grow. In other words, they eat the bad stuff (wastes) while also consuming the good stuff (oxygen). That's why it is critical to go slowly when carbon dosing. Adding too much carbon can spur enough bacteria to grow that they use all the oxygen in the system.

You would have already experienced that by now, so it looks like you dodged a bullet!

See here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/CDosingArt.htm">http://www.wetwebmedia.com/CDosingArt.htm</a> and the linked files to learn about this beneficial but potentially dangerous process.

Full disclosure: I use vodka in my tank and love every second. It re-invigorated my love for the hobby and freed me from expensive reactors and media.

Edit: [QUOTE=][B]SnowManSnow;912793 wrote:[/B] its a carbon source, so I would double up on water changes so you don't get a cyano bloom.[/QUOTE]

ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE WARNING:

I disagree with this statement. Cyano originates from an excess/presence of nutrients.... the exact nutrients that are consumed by the carbon encouraged bacteria. Carbon dosing eliminated cyano in my system. Your mileage may vary.

 

[camellia]

Braselton4;912796 wrote: Can I ask how 1 cup was mistaken for 4 ml's?

Sure,
I wasn't sure if I was going to be gone for 2 or 3 days (remember this part). He came over and we went over everything several days before I left...
I had pre measured the Kent Tech M into 3 separate containers and stacked them on top of each other in a tub with a label on top.
I only own 2 syringes, I pre measured 4 ML into the TWO Syringes and put them in the tub with the vodka container to extract more if needed and taped a little blue note to it "extra vodka" in the SAME tub.
He said "it was late, I poured in a container tossed it aside (now he can't see note) looked into the tub for 3rd syringe and thought I was out".
Looking back, if I had left the original vodka bottle or put it in a separate tub, this wouldn't have happened. The containers were all small (8-12 oz) so it didn't really look any different so it was "My Bad" too! When I walked into my house that night I knew EXACTLY what happened before looking at the tank or containers.
About a month ago I didn't get the lid on this same container of vodka and it spilled in the tub inside my stand, it's crazy how strong the smell of vodka is. I always thought you were supposed to drink vodka when you didn't want anyone to be able to smell that you were drinking

 

[camellia]

McPhock;912798 wrote: Not sure how I missed this yesterday. Sorry for the long response time.

The entire concept behind carbon dosing is to reduce nitrate and phosphate quickly and effectively. The addition of a large amount of carbon (in a necessarily carbon deficient system) is the catalyst to trigger a bacterial bloom. As the bacteria utilize the carbon, they also consume nitrate, phosphate and oxygen to grow. In other words, they eat the bad stuff (wastes) while also consuming the good stuff (oxygen). That's why it is critical to go slowly when carbon dosing. Adding too much carbon can spur enough bacteria to grow that they use all the oxygen in the system.

You would have already experienced that by now, so it looks like you dodged a bullet!

See here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/CDosingArt.htm">http://www.wetwebmedia.com/CDosingArt.htm</a> and the linked files to learn about this beneficial but potentially dangerous process.

Full disclosure: I use vodka in my tank and love every second. It re-invigorated my love for the hobby and freed me from expensive reactors and media.

Edit:

ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE WARNING:

I disagree with this statement. Cyano originates from an excess/presence of nutrients.... the exact nutrients that are consumed by the carbon encouraged bacteria. Carbon dosing eliminated cyano in my system. Your mileage may vary.[/QUOTE]

I read your statement wrong (which makes perfect sense). Thank you for your time and information, it gave me a better understanding of the chemistry which I needed. I did Dodge the Bullet (I'm good at this :)) the tank looks good tonight!

My anemone is still attached to the back of a rock in the back bottom corner of the tank. It's getting flow but ZERO light? I have to use a flash light to see it and my clowns aren't happy about it either.
Any ideas???

 

[cedzaquaddiction]

Just give the anenome some time. Keep an eye on it to make sure it still has good color. Anenomes are pretty resilient, and bleaching is normally a sign that things aren't good for them.

As for the fish, it's normal for them to eat like pigs in this circumstance. I know I eat like a pig when I've had too much vodka...

 

[reefkeeper]

Sign all your fish up to AA.



You should be alright. I dose vodka every day and I love it. Just follow the vodka dosing chart on the web and get a good P03/N04 test kit and monitor the P03/N04 every couple of days till get you close to zero, then back off your dosage to what's recommended and keep dosing that amount.

You'll experience a brown film on your glass for a while, but that's OK. That's the bacteria from the vodka that's going to help dissolve dis-solve you P03/N04. Make sure you have a good skimmer. That's important.