Vodka dosing on a biocube?

[peaches7412]

I have been testing the water lately getting good results for levels of nitrate and phosphate, but I have to clear the glass of this brown algae nearly everyday. And now it looks like it is starting to grow on the rocks. So I decided I might try vodka dosing. I read on how much I should add, but the only problem now is that the article I read said that I need a really good skimmer to remove all the excess waste the bacteria will be creating. I have the stock biocube skimmer and it works, usually pulls out a small amount of tea colored liquid every two days. But is this good enough, or should I get a better skimmer like the aquatic life nano skimmer before trying to vodka dose?

 

[rolo65]

id get a better one....the skimmer also helps oxygenate the water....which dosing vodka helps decrease...

 

[peaches7412]

Ya I read that too, so I will probably try to get the better skimmer. But I also was just wondering if anyone actually vodka doses a nano tank? Also decided to do this because my tri color acro is starting to turn brown. It still has purple tips, but nothing like it had when I first got it. Other corals in the tank are doing fine.

 

[lilrobb]

The amount of vodka needed would be almost I,possible to measure correctly...

 

[rolo65]

LilRobb;741932 wrote: The amount of vodka needed would be almost I,possible to measure correctly...

+1.....unless you have a full on science lab in your basement and are capable of measuring an actual minim...

 

[jead85]

I could see it possible if you put it into a water solution first to
Dilute it, but I would never attempt it. Sounds like trouble in a tank that small.

 

[redstang]

FWIW I'm about 2 weeks into dosing my 29gal biocube with vodka. My params were reading undetectable phosphate with a sachem kit and no trates with an IO kit. But I was still having to scrape the glass daily to rid it of brown algae, I had some sort of purplish non-coralline algae growing along the back wall, and I was starting to see little clumps of GHA. After 2 days of dosing .1ml of vodka the red algae on the back had been reduced by ~25%. Right now I'm at .2ml per day and I'm not sure that I'll increase it any. I kept the initial .1ml per day for the first week. I do run the aquatic life 115 skimmer.

I'll be honest, I'm perplexed why so many are saying they wouldn't do it on a nano or that it would be impossible to measure. Get a good 1ml syringe from a pharmacy and you can hit .1ml, or less, easily.

I've since added a larger CUC as well and between the the two I haven't had to scrape my glass for 1.5 weeks. I'll still notice a slight brown film every now and then but by the next morning it's gone. I've also seen a coralline explosion since starting the vodka dosing.

 

[peaches7412]

Ya, I just found out that I do have a syringe that can measure even less than .1 ml, so I guess I just need to get the skimmer. I might also want to add some macro algae too, but for that I need to make a media basket

 

[redstang]

peaches7412;742054 wrote: Ya, I just found out that I do have a syringe that can measure even less than .1 ml, so I guess I just need to get the skimmer. I might also want to add some macro algae too, but for that I need to make a media basket

Not sure I'd waste the time on some macro. Most of what I've read regarding vodka dosing in nano's is that the macro's die off since the bacteria is consuming nitrates and phosphates. Basically do one or the other but not both. Not sure if that holds true in the larger tanks or not.

 

[misu]

Not really 29gal but I used to dose my 65gal just fine with one of the salifert test kit syringes.