any expert in vodka dosing??

castroantonio · #1 10/13/2007, 02:23 PM

Hello
I have a doudt with vodka. I hope can you help me!

I start to dose vodka to my system 3 weeks ago, and now I m watching that filementous algae is growing up!!, what is happening?? why the filametous algae is growing up??
also the level of PO4 is go down, and NO3 is go down too.
my sistem is 1200 Liters. and the vodka dosing is 20 ml each day.
also I have never seen a overgrow of bacteria in the water (cloudy water).
thank you

hahnmeister · #2 10/13/2007, 10:35 PM

What kind of Vodka? Many contain things besides ethanol. I use everclear (95%). The other thing about the vodka method is that you need a large skimmer... or the bacteria levels that the alchohol helps produce arent harvested... sit in the tank, and get re-processed by the tank.

Your level of dosing isnt that high either. For 1200L, you could most add about 18mL daily of everclear and be fine. Something that vodka can do is lower the oxygen level in the system (another reason for a large skimmer) as well as the ORP (not much though). If your tank is predisposed to these conditions in the first place, that may contribute to the higher algae levels. Or, there might be something else in the vodka which is feeding the algae... thats why I use pure grain everclear. Its $18 a bottle by me, but its almost 2.5x as concentrated as 40 proof Vodka.

magnoliarichj · #3 10/14/2007, 12:12 AM

intrested in more info on this can u point me in the right direction

hahnmeister · #4 10/14/2007, 12:32 AM

Well, Julian Sprung would be a good source. You could also visit Calfo and company at the Marine Depot forums.

Grunt007 · #5 10/15/2007, 09:24 PM

THE RC vodka thread-
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...a&pagenumber=1

chrisdamage · #6 10/17/2007, 03:15 PM

this month's Coral Magazine had a short little blurb about it... the article was focused on DSB set-ups and nitrate reduction I believe... I think Anthony Calfo wrote it.