vodka dosing

[jwhockey23]

Does anyone here dose vodka in there tanks

[tmz]

I did it for several months at a rate of 4mililiters per day to a 400g system,. It did knock out algae but also caused some xenia I was growing and harvesting to wane. Clearly the bacterial scrubber effect reduced nutrient. c
Carefull though if yo dose too much you will cause a bacterial bloom and die off which can have serious effects on your aquarium.

[gary324]

maybe you should reconsider your use of the vodka...

if you were to drink said vodka instead of adding it to your aquarium I predict you will care considerably less about any imperfections and simply enjoy what you have...

just an idea


You were all thinking it, i just said it

[jwhockey23]

Ohh I drink it and it makes me feel good I just figured I would spread the wealth to the fish and corals they might like to get drunk too. I just read the thread in the sps forum about it and it sounded pretty good and wanted to know if anyone around here used that method

[rickyfins]

Some people will do everything but what is known to work to get results. I think its funny how a few minutes of maint. and proper husbandry skills per month will prevent the use and undesirable effects of unknown chemical compounds and their eventual unwanted reactions to a system.

Just a thought, but keeping it simple and doing the right thing will ultimately lead to the wanted effect... A beautiful reef display!

Do aquarists know what happens to their liver when they drink vodka? Just imagine what it does to the tiny livers of your fish. Not to mention the effect it has on organisms without livers or organs used to remove such toxins.

[tmz]

Originally posted by rickyfins
Some people will do everything but what is known to work to get results. I think its funny how a few minutes of maint. and proper husbandry skills per month will prevent the use and undesirable effects of unknown chemical compounds and their eventual unwanted reactions to a system.

Just a thought, but keeping it simple and doing the right thing will ultimately lead to the wanted effect... A beautiful reef display!

Do aquarists know what happens to their liver when they drink vodka? Just imagine what it does to the tiny livers of your fish. Not to mention the effect it has on organisms without livers or organs used to remove such toxins.

And some people don't don't have anything to contrbute but criticize anyway without even a basic understanding of the topic. Feeding bacteria with a carbon source is a
a technique which should be further researched and deserves intelligent discussion.

[rickyfins]

Originally posted by tmz
I did it for several months at a rate of 4mililiters per day to a 400g system,. It did knock out algae but also caused some xenia I was growing and harvesting to wane. Clearly the bacterial scrubber effect reduced nutrient. c
Carefull though if yo dose too much you will cause a bacterial bloom and die off which can have serious effects on your aquarium.

If you fully take in what you posted here. Xenia to wane- even at your low dose, this nutrient loving coral did not like drinking vodka. They are one of the easiest corals to keep and to have a successful colony wane means something is seriously wrong.

I know that the carbon source could and should be different than that of an intoxicant used for "KILLING" brain cells. In effect that is what happened to the algae, they died of intoxication not because you fed bacteria a carbon source. Algaes are very fussy about contaminates and water quality.

Originally posted by tmz
And some people don't don't have anything to contrbute but criticize anyway without even a basic understanding of the topic. Feeding bacteria with a carbon source is a
a technique which should be further researched and deserves intelligent discussion.

Contribution yes, criticize yes, I do that too.
I am not saying that feeding bacteria with a carbon source isnt something that shouldn't be looked into.
In my area of PA there are many streams and lakes that do not grow algae of any sort even after cleaning up acid mine drainage. In fact, even with a clear, clean water source and testing to back it up, the PA fish and Boat commission still posts in its guide not to eat fish from certain areas because even at those lower acceptable levels they have adverse effects on humans and other organisms.

Under the microscope if you put some bacteria, microbes, etc. on a slide and spot it with vodka you will see what I am talking about. Bacteria though extremely efficient eaters will gorge themeselves to death, and with an intoxicant/preservative like alcohol in vodka they will assuridly come to a quick demise even at small dosages. Not to mention that acceptable levels of iodine will make pods and other creatures bolt and try to escape the enevitable.

So you see, an intelligent discussion is what I do, or at least try to do with the brain cells I haven't killed over the years. Maybe you should relax on the bottle a bit as I am not jumping you about your opinion, just giving facts as I see them.

A carbon source is good, vodka is a bad intoxicant for those of you who are lurking about or missed the memo.

I feel sorry for the microbes, fish, and living organisms in your aquarium as I am sure that this torture is ultimately unbearable for them. I am just thankful that the majority of living organisms in your home do not have a frontal lobe.

I hope that this inspires you to reconsider your vodka dosing and search for another carbon source. I am sure what is still living in your tank is begging you to call AA for they are sure to have all day hang overs and want to quit their drinking binge.

[tmz]

Your arguments are without substance but certainly not without arrogance. Vodka is pure ethanol and a well accepted carbon source.see Sprung and Delbeek, The Reef Aquarium Vol III,they are clear about it's potential benefits.
Sugar is sugar and the alcohol is broken down . A more productive discussion can be had about wether or not multiple types of carbon sources are needed for bacterial cultures to insure against a mono culture. To exclude ethanol from the discussion as an intoxicant at 1ml per100 gallons based on some hypothetical microscope view of bacteria gorging in a drop of pure vodka is just silly.

If you took the time to read my post you would note that I did this for a period of time. To suggest that it was done because of lazy husbandry is arrogant, condescending, insulting and just plain ignorant.
Do you know what wax and wane means? The xenia didn't die they thinned out and ceased multiplying. anecdotal evidence ,I think, that even this small amount of carbon source feeding reduced nutrient.
I answered the poster's question with honesty to share my experinece since he asked for it. You jumped in as some sort of husbandry critic without any information to share and at my expense.Now you tell me to "relax on the bottle a little bit".Look in the mirror and untill you have something intelligent to say don't waste any more of my time.

[gary324]

I think we should all discuss it while DRINKING the vodka as opposed to putting it in our tanks...

I am not criticizing but trying to put what little overall knowledge I have in place and putting licquor of any kind in out tanks seems bad, like crossing the streams, its a no-no..

Alcohol, especially vodka is distilled. does this somehow remove any bad chemicals or something? Doesnt make much sense to me....

Logical new guy

Gary

[tmz]

Originally posted by gary324
I think we should all discuss it while DRINKING the vodka as opposed to putting it in our tanks...

I am not criticizing but trying to put what little overall knowledge I have in place and putting licquor of any kind in out tanks seems bad, like crossing the streams, its a no-no..

Alcohol, especially vodka is distilled. does this somehow remove any bad chemicals or something? Doesnt make much sense to me....

Logical new guy

Gary

Gary to answer your question. Vodka is pure ethanol and is generally filtered with charcoall rendering it a very pure source of carbon. The alcohol breaks down and is not harmfull in the small doses used. The idea of dosing carbon is based on a desire to grow bacteria in the water column that will take up dissolved organic material(nutrients). This is not unlike growing macroalgae for the same purpose. The bacteria are more easily exported by the skimmer than the dissoved material .They may also serve as a food source for filter feeders and corals. It is also thought that by supporting a bacterial colony they may outcompete pathenogenic bacteria and have some pro biotic effect. Vodka is not the only carbon source used. Some use sugar or molasses and new products claiming to support multiple types of beneficial bacteria which actually include the bacteria are making their way into the hobby.
I used it for four months because the concept was intriguing to me. It seemed to do what it was supposed to do in nutrient export although I didn't notice any real improvement in polyp extension that others have noted. There were no ill effects.I do not rcommend it without a thorough understanding of the method and its desired outcomes. I do think ,however, that new methods that do no harm and have some level of demonstrated success to improve husbandry should be explored and not quickly dismissed without cause including vodka dosing.

[acm]

this is on the club forum
http://seasl.org/forum//viewtopic.php?t=15