wasp Posted November 16, 2005 Report Share Posted November 16, 2005 Your tank doesn't look THAT bad Slappers, seen worse. However it will clean up. Won't go back to the origional sparkling white though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappers Posted November 16, 2005 Report Share Posted November 16, 2005 well as long as it will clean up a bit better than now i will be happy,gees got to do better aquascaping looks like crap now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappers Posted November 16, 2005 Report Share Posted November 16, 2005 might lay off the vodka for today water going cloudy must have been the cap full i put in last night :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 16, 2005 Report Share Posted November 16, 2005 That cloudy is bacteria. Skim at max to remove them, and keep up the vodka, In a few days the water will be crystal clear. Just stop vodka if any livestock appear to be suffering. Is that an sps coral? If so keep a CLOSE eye on it for any changes, in particular tissue recession. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappers Posted November 16, 2005 Report Share Posted November 16, 2005 cheers wasp, all looks OK at the moment, no probs with the anemone or the hairy mushrooms (what ever they are) will put another 5mls into it later. gave it a bit of a bash yesterday put a good cap and a half in :oops: so i will drop it back to 5mls today the fish are smiling too put skimmer on max too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drifty Posted November 16, 2005 Report Share Posted November 16, 2005 is there any advantage or disadvantage in dosing vodka do a tank thats only 6 weeks old. I have a hair algae outbreak would vodka help to lessen this or cause problems with the tank while its so young Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappers Posted November 16, 2005 Report Share Posted November 16, 2005 i don't know but my rocks are pretty brown so i will try any think to clean them up if all else fails out comes the water blaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 16, 2005 Report Share Posted November 16, 2005 It will help Drifty, provided you have a good skimmer. The skimmer is an essential part of the equation to remove the resultant extra crud, otherwise no advantage. But I'm starting to look like a vodka advocate here, I just want to repeat what I said earlier, that the vodka effect will likely lessen, and eventually become outweighed by side effects, after a few months, maybe 6 months or so. The next stage for those who wish to pursue this further, would be to adopt the zeovit system, which works on a somewhat similar method ( feeding bacteria to encourage nutrient removal ), but the sytem is more complete because it also doses the desired bacteria thereby overcoming the lack of bacterial diversity thing, plus has supplements to ensure corals etc are not "starved" due to low nutrient levels. But yes, vodka alone will often give great results in the short term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drifty Posted November 16, 2005 Report Share Posted November 16, 2005 thanks for the reply wasp, I have a deltec ap850 and around 1000l so i think it should cope, might give it a try this weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 Not sure if you have any livestock yet but if not just dump plenty of vodka in, the main reason for going slow is to not affect the livestock. If no livestock, in a 1000 L system with hair algae, I'd go 1st day 50 mls vodka, and then 20 mls daily. Leave the lights off so algae cannot hang on to nutrients & have to give them up to the bacteria. Have plenty of current. Unless you are trying to establish a DSB vacuum the sand several times a lot of crud may come out of the rock. Keep the skimmer clean, tuned, & working at max. In 2 weeks re assess and see if you feel the tank is where you want it, if so, reduce vodka & start introducing livestock. BTW, you can have fish while this is going on, just corals are reliant on nutrients in the water and will be more effected until you got things stable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drifty Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 have some stock in the tank, most is still in my old tank so will have to dose in low amounts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappers Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 The "Theory" Behind Ethanol Additions to Aquariums A German magazine recently published an article suggesting and recommending the dosing of ethanol (as vodka) to reef tanks as a carbon source for marine heterotrophic bacteria in order to increase denitrification rates and bacterial biomass production (Mrutzek and Kokott 2004). Further, they claimed that additions cause rapid declines in nitrogen and phosphorus produced by fish, invertebrates, and algal metabolism (ironic, since many aquarium invertebrates and algae are sinks, not sources, for nitrogen and phosphorus). In turn, the bacteria provide a food source for corals and other filter feeders. The method is recommended particularly for those tanks that are highly skimmed (and probably lack particulate material) and which lack sand beds. Tanks with sand beds or other sediment-based systems, they mention, react unusually and may have adverse effects to ethanol additions. "Experiments" were performed (and I use the term experiment loosely to mean the typical uncontrolled, unreplicated, statistically insignificant sort of "let's add it, see what happens, and produce results that show how my tank never looked better" sort of trials that are often found in aquarium literature). The results showed a precipitous decline in nitrogen and phosphorus levels over approximately one month with increasing doses of vodka. The sample size for the experimental procedure was one (n=1), consisting of a single person's personal home aquarium. There were no controls in the experiment (i.e. an identical tank without vodka being added to see if there actually were results from the treatment). In fact, the sample tank received an increasing dose of vodka during the treatment, making any dosing effect impossible to determine. Additional support for the "experiment" was collected by casual replication in completely different trials in even less controlled conditions; that is, other aquarists began adding vodka and claimed similar "results." Results of this work also showed a number of other effects. A large "bloom" occurred which clouded the test tank, an occurrence that could and often does kill tank inhabitants. It was assumed the bloom was bacterial, but no mention was made if and how the cloudiness in the tanks was determined to be bacterial. Given what I will offer below, it may also have simply been carbonate precipitation brought about by additional carbon addition and possibly microbial mediation. Having fortuitously escaped tank mortalities, the tank cleared and the authors literally state how "the tank water had never been clearer, the coral polyp extension was better, and the coral coloration was more intense." Where have I heard this before? The observed decrease in nitrate and phosphate is an interesting effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 sounds like one observation of many - in other words i take what the author wrote above with a grain of salt as well as his "story" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 But your no expert either aye? So we should take what your saying with a grain of salt?? So is that a grain of salt, of a grain of salt, of a grain of salt?? At this rate we'll be able to make a couple of liters of ASW out of this thread before too long! :lol: :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 Im certainly no expert nor do I try to be and I certainly dont believe anything I read first time! so, i take most postings i read "with plenty of grains of salt" and even if something works on my tank doesnt mean it will work on everyone elses. the web is here for us to "recommend based on our experiences" or "what we've read that makes sense to us" and thats how others should take that advice (with another grain of salt ) i think that applies moreso in the reefing hobby where every theory sounds well and good until you try it out yourself :lol: btw, after posting this... my tank "has never looked better" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 Don't go over the top it is better to do things very slow your anemone looks bleached already if you over do that will be the first to suffer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappers Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 hes ok he always looks like that, hes not that pale its just the camera Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappers Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 just put another 10mls in i think its working looks abit diffrent looks like its going it smells like a pub when i go in the lounge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misnoma Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 i don't know but my rocks are pretty brown so i will try any think to clean them up if all else fails out comes the water blaster My rocks went really really brown when I had my initial diatom outbreak. A couple of weeks later, all good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappers Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 ok perhaps i should have just left it, it just looked so yuk not to mention the aquascaping, but i know me i will try any think once I'm happy at the moment and he looks happy to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 Just wait until the morning he won't look happy when the hangover hits... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 what sort of vodka are you adding? will absolut vodka do?! im pretty sure that plain vodka with nothing else added Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fay Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 O.K. I'm giving it a go started last night 15ml per day ABSOLUT VODKA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappers Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 lol now look what i started ...fay your tank looks so awesome already??? ok dat three i think and the brown is going big improvements every think in the tank happy no hangovers but i did overdose to start with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted November 17, 2005 Report Share Posted November 17, 2005 yeah same, added some absolut last night mixed with zeovit things might happen a little faster. fish looked cheery last night but hungover this morning 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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