I started because I have the odd patch of red algae and I have to clean the glass heaps.

Lost most of the cats eyes snails I put in, so could be the cause of a few problems and I feed heaps!!

Rather have fat healthy fish than run down waiting to get whitespot.

yep im just using the cossack vodka cheap and nasty

Have a read of the lable cos that cossack stuff may have added sugar. I remember we used to get a 1.125L bottle of 23% for $8.00.

-Kristov 63, as in 63% vodka. They added water to it so it was the maximum alcohol content (23%) while not having to pay tax.

When I set up my tank I might do the vodka thing.

is there a specific alchol content that the vodka should be

It doesnt matter but the recommended dosages here are at 40% I believe. So just add 2x as much if you have 20%

i am putting in a cap full a day about 10mls it says its 37.2% ALC/VOL

ok just an update water has cleared about 90% the brown algae has nearly all gone just put in another 10mls

BEFOUR VODKA

3 DAYS AFTER

:bounce:

all i notice is 3 days later, your photo's are blury. are you sure you're not putting the capfuls in your body tank?

if u look over to were the overflow is in both pictures u will see a difference. Mona has had a weeeeee change around in the tank as you can see but in person the brown algae is going. cant help the blurrr its the camera its on auto focus

Most vodka is around 70 proof, which is 35% ethanol.

I added around 100ml of absolute (100%, not the brand) ethanol to start (no livestock in the tank yet) and the water went pretty cloudy overnight, coupled with a skimmer bonanza of green crud. I added the weekly dose of Stress Zyme and around 5ml of ethanol today and we'll see what happens. As my tank is at the tail end of cycling, this may be the kickstart I needed..kind of like that dose of EPO before the hill climb stage of the Tour.

I added around 100ml of absolute (100%, not the brand) ethanol to start

I think you need to do a bit of research before adding Vodka, 100ml is way to much.

Why add it to a new tank??

tank should be well established before you add it.

Vodka will feed all bactaria including bad bactaria so adding too much could cause problems.

If using vodka it is best to start off with 10ml and increase everyday by 1ml.

once you start to notice nitrate reducing (about2-3 weeks) start reducing the dose.

algae bloom is a classic example of overdosing.

Vodka will cause major problems if you overdose , especially mushrooms and leathers .

Yep...many significant water changes this weekend. Lesson learned.

Isnt it good to have that bloom? Since hazymranch has no livestock its not really a problem.

coupled with a skimmer bonanza of green crud.

That would have pulled out all the phosphates ect that were present in the bloom.

I thought that having a cloudy tank was a common effect with vodka, and thats why heavy skimming is a necessity.

The way I see it the more blooms the better, at least thats what I can gather from the theory behind it. A tank with no livestock is perfect - the more algae you create by throwing in empty carbs- the more the algae pulls crap outa the water. This is assuming that algae has significant amounts of phospherous / nitrates ect in its system?

If theres no live stock in the tank wheres all the phosphate and nitrate coming from? There could be a bit of nitrate from stuff dieing off on the live rock (assuming it isn't completely cured) but this should only last a week or two.

If theres no live stock in the tank wheres all the phosphate and nitrate coming from? There could be a bit of nitrate from stuff dieing off on the live rock (assuming it isn't completely cured) but this should only last a week or two.

Live rock (or base rock) is often full of phosphate, pvc and plastics provide phosphate too. It can take months for it to reach low levels.

All you need is phosphate. Nitrogen won't be limiting very often in tanks, because bacteria can fix it directly from the atmosphere.

The only problem with bacterial blooms is often the oxygen levels take a dive. Which can obviously cause trouble for other inhabitants.

Big difference in the photos for 3 days, looking good

So if thats the case, in a new tank, vodka isn't going to be a long term solution? Cause the phos going to keep leaching, and and theres some limit to how long you can do this because of bacterial diversity, so what are you going to acheive? A cleaner looking cycling tank? Plus is it going to help with diatoms anyway? Which from what I have seen are the main problem in new systems (for the first 3-4 months anyway).

But besides this I'm kind of surprised after all the debate regarding the "possible" risks of running a DSB, that you guys are so keen to use a system that so unknown.

Wouldn't it be far better and safer to just go with the tried and true and run rowaphos or some other phos-sorb product?

So if thats the case, in a new tank, vodka isn't going to be a long term solution? Cause the phos going to keep leaching, and and theres some limit to how long you can do this because of bacterial diversity, so what are you going to acheive? A cleaner looking cycling tank? Plus is it going to help with diatoms anyway? Which from what I have seen are the main problem in new systems (for the first 3-4 months anyway).

It's not a never ending source. It takes a while to remove it.

But besides this I'm kind of surprised after all the debate regarding the "possible" risks of running a DSB, that you guys are so keen to use a system that so unknown.

Huh?

Wouldn't it be far better and safer to just go with the tried and true and run rowaphos or some other phos-sorb product?

Because it's unnecessary. They also can have problems of their own. It doesn't fix the real problem.

Layton

Hey Layton,

Just to change to subject, didn't you write something describing how to cook rocks a while back?. Can't find it and I've managed to buy a pile of dead rock I want to cook so i can add it to my existing tank. ??

I would HIGHLY recommend cooking your rock. Details on what this is can be found here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... did=485572

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ...

Cooking is only for live rock I think, as it gets rid of the biological waste stored within the rock. I was looking at that auction too , to start with it was even worth the postage to the south island.

So what would you recommend for dead rock that has been in a tank, and now dry for over a year, similar but maybe not necessary to rinse and dip as much????.

I saw you looking feelers, a wonder who ran me up at the end??

So what would you recommend for dead rock that has been in a tank, and now dry for over a year, similar but maybe not necessary to rinse and dip as much????.

I saw you looking feelers, a wonder who ran me up at the end??

Exactly the same process. It will take few weeks for the bacteria to build up, then you should get a lot of crap shed from the rock. It may take anywhere from a few months to several months.

This process should avoid all the signs of tank cycling people see when they setup a new tank (diatom and algae stages), you are letting bacteria do the job which algae just interferes with.

Layton

I think you just chuck it in if its clean- , but I think you have to add it slowly so that there isnt a bacterial bloom. This is just from what I have read - wait from a reply from one of the resident experts(as above) - I wouldnt want to destroy your tank 8)

Yeah that Phil guy drove you up $100

I asked the post office about shipping something that size, he asked what it was for and I got a few weird stares when I said rocks!!! Not the most user friendly when it comes to shipping.

Nitrogen won't be limiting very often in tanks, because bacteria can fix it directly from the atmosphere.

This is one of those beliefs that has been around a while because it sounds "logical".

However Randy Holmes Farley the Reef Central Chemist stated bacteria in the tank would not be able to fix enough nitrogen to have significant effect. In other words, nitrate in fact can be limiting in a tank.

I know Bomber said it, but he is not a chemist.