Vodka Dosing - 29 Gallon Tank and How I Did It

[chrisfont23]

Mead, why don't you start with a HOB fuge, some chaeto and a bag of carbon? That's one of the first steps I took before I started vodka/MB7 to reduce NO3. And naturally again, another thing I experimented with when first starting my tank was this smaller HOB fuge, with the theory that if it didn't work it wasn't worth it. SO I put together a small prototype before I built my real HOB fuge from an Aquaclear 70. PM me your address and it's yours. You will just need to add a light to it. A clip on LED is fine.

As for the BioFuel...well, you should probably read the instructions based on the containers before you go and dose your tank.I am not sure what the breakdown for a 7.5 g would be so don't want to point you in the wrong direction.

HTH

[Mad Mead]

okay good Im not all blond. Some times it does get the best of me.

1.The starting dosage is 0.1ml of vodka per 25 gallons (~100 liters) NWV daily continued for three days.
Which would be 0.03 to 0.04 for me right? (being that I'm at 7.5g)
2.Days 4-7, double the daily dosage to 0.2ml of vodka per 25 gallons
me-0.06 to 0.08?
3.Each subsequent week add an additional 0.5ml of vodka regardless of aquaria volume. At this point your example dosage during week two would be 1.3ml daily. this is where I'm at a loss......thats the blond in me
help

[chrisfont23]

Assume for the example the tank is 25 gallons:

Week1
Day 1: .1ml
Day 2: .1ml
Day 3: .1ml
Day 4: .2ml
Day 5: .2ml
Day 6: .2ml
Day 7: .2ml

Week2 (if no change add .5 ml)
Day 8-14: .7 ml

Week3 (if no change add .5 ml)
Day 15-21: 1.2 ml

If you see a change hold that until they become undetectable where upon, you divide that final dosage by two for your maintenance dose.

To be honest, I would try to be cautious. I kind of tweaked this a little bit to fit my style...which was not to rush into this and go my own speed. So I didn't stick to the formula exactly. I did chart everything and I did observe my corals/fish many times daily.If I had to do it all over again, I would start with MB7 and Biofuel rather than MB7 and vodka.

Can someone make this a sticky? This is a hell of a collaborative effort from some of the vets and I see a lot of new names reading the thread.

[Reefing Madness]

The only reason to use the MB7 is so you don't get an algea bloom, Cyano to be precise. I never used it. And like Chris, I went about it unorthodox also. I did the dosing as directed for the first month, and ended up with 5MLS. Now this is shocking next, but my Trates were over 200. And at the rate I was figure it would take to eat them, I was looking at a year of dosing, so I went from 5mls a day to 10mls and each week it didn't come down I went up 5mls, until I reached 40mls a day. So they went away rather quickly but I read quite a bit on other tanks first and how much they ened up using before Trates came down, and what their current water volume is and current does. Never used MB7 or anything else.

[Mad Mead]

Chris
HOB fuge i think your right. In the long run it my lead me to buy a bigger tank.. as it is my DT looks like it should be the fuge
Packed full of Ahair,chaeto in green and white, loads of tinny bugs i hope and not Mantis shrimp baby's.
Sorry didn't see you misunderstood. I have a bag of carbon now in the DT started with 1cup and the start of this week 3/4 a cup. I use Kent marine reef Carbon. (can be use in all Aquariums fW and SW)
KENT MARINE REEF CARBON : contains essential Activated Carbon for use in marine aquariums. contains a fine pelletized bituminous coal based carbon with pore sizes that range from 20 to 2,000 Angstrom. Ideally suited to remove organic pollutants, stain, and entrained toxic gases. Activated with very high iodine and molasses numbers with less than 0.2% ash. Will not leach phosphates or promote undesirable algae growth and is well suited for sensitive fish and reef systems!
DIRECTIONS: Rinse well in cold running water. is very active and only requires about 1/4lb (1cup) per 100 gallons of aquarium water. More can be safely used depending on the amount of organics in the system. Place in a fine mesh bag or filter chamber directly in water flow. Make sure water flows through the material and not just around it. For best results, replace carbon monthly in FW and use intermittently in SW.
NOTE: Carbon naturally removes trace minerals from water. Even after it appears to be expired from adsorbing organics, it will continue to do so. for best results, use carbon filtration intermittently and regularly replenish trace minerals.
I have such a big boom of organics. I went with 1 cup and will work my way down to my right amount 1/8 cup over the next month and stay at that the rest of tank life span.

Okay I will hold off I think on the Vodka and go with Biofuel. I'll get a bottle and see what it has to say and send the company msg and hope they respond never hurts. wont start till I'm quit sure what the dose is.
Thanks so much that would be lovely. I will PM you Awesome You been loads of help

[QUOTECan someone make this a sticky? This is a hell of a collaborative effort from some of the vets and I see a lot of new names reading the thread.][/QUOTE] i second that vote

[Original Fin]

Can someone make this a sticky? This is a hell of a collaborative effort from some of the vets and I see a lot of new names reading the thread.

I'll look Into that Chris. Not sure what the criteria is for that, or who's call, but it does seem to be a popular subject.


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[chrisfont23]

Wow. It's been a while on this little blog and a LOT has changed. Most of us know about my little "overstocking problem." Yeah - I am not going to get into it, but lets just say most of the cast of Finding Nemo made it's way into my 29 gallon tank. And there is no way in hell to get the culprit out without a) ripping apart my rock work and b) disappointing my 3 yr old son. So onto semantics. Vodka dosing worked well, but there was too much cyano. Reef BioFuel was efficient for a while, but in the end just didn't prove cost effective. I was still battling upward.

I did a hell of a lot of research and read a ton of literature by one of the more well known reef chemists on "another board." I decided to slowly ween off the BioFuel and purchased a healthier, larger protein skimmer. Once it broke in, I switched to vinegar dosing. For the moment, I have manageable nitrates (5 - 10 ppm) (down from 20). I am currently dosing 13.6 ml using a slow drip method in a gravity doser I built. The best part is there is no cyano.

Nothing really makes up for water changes, but in the case of my little predicament, decided to try it. Will continue to post progress...