Help with Vodka Sugar Vinegar Dosing

4age

4age

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Hi guys..im contemplating doing the whole sps route but would hate to end up with brown sps coz of hi nutrients, so have considered going the Vodka Sugar Vinegar route to drop nutrients to a low level as I have some lps in tank

Question I have is how is the best way to do this..i have reda posts where guys are just dosing the VSV, and others where guys are also dosing bacteria...is bacteria dosing a must with VSV.

I have bio cubes running on my tank, but not entirely sure that its working to full capability..i had it running in low salinity in my fowlr, and even in a qt tank where I dosed lightly with copper,so not sure if this killed the bio cubes. Can I dose lightly with vsv with the cubes in the tank?

what are the effects of vsv if dosed at higher rate than needed? I have a good skimmer on tank, which I have read is a must for carbon dosing
 
How is your VSV mixture made up (Amount of each) Vodka, Sugar, Vinegar?

I have been dosing just vodka for about 6 weeks and only have a skimmer, and some purigen running. NO3 is at 0 and PO4 at 0.05
 
I havnt mixed up anything yet as I first need input and want to do the research. Must vsv dosing be coupled with dosing of bacteria?
 
Safa, when thinking about SCD, the key mention is knowing you No3 and Po4 and as many say the Redfield Ratio theory, don't dose for the sake of dosing.

Get some decent test kits and start baby steps in this process, only do things for a reason :)
 
4age said:
what are the effects of vsv if dosed at higher rate than needed? I have a good skimmer on tank, which I have read is a must for carbon dosing
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Bacterial bloom will occur. This is not necessarily bad, but you will have white film on all your rocks, glass and equipment. In worse case scenarios, O2 depletion can occur. Over time, browning of sps can occur if too much sugar is used, lps will not extend polyps as much. Vodka is 8 times more stronger than vinegar and is known to cause cyano. Dosing both Vodka and vinegar will prevent cyano as the acetate prevents cyano growth.
 
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May I ask if you running cubes why do you want to run a Carbon dosing system?
Then also what size is your tank (total litres) and what size is your skimmer?
what are your nutrient levels at the moment?
Are you planning on dosing and using cubes at the same time?
 
carlosdeandrade said:
vinegar will prevent cyano as the acetate prevents cyano growth.
Click to expand...

is that so?
I have been looking into dosing Vinegar and chucking the bio pellets...
Been doing some reading yesterday and found that some reefers have found that bio pellets are giving off organic matter which feeds the cyano...(let me find the proper wording here)...lol
whereas Vinegar does not...That's why im looking into dosing Vinegar...
 
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@Reefhead. I am not decided on dosing carbon, and I am exploring options. My current tank is about 380litres with sump. Skimmer is a custom made skimmer rated for 1000litres with askol pump and runs very well..pulls out thick very dark skim mate.

I cant remember off hand as I tested a few weeks back, and don't have my notes with me at work. I will have to retest later but I know that nitrates were present at low levels and some phosphate too, but not at high levels. My sps haven't browned out.

If the cubes work I wont worry with other carbon dosing, but im running a mix of normal and titanium for over 3months and nitrates have never dropped to 0...I might just add more cubes and see. I do not think that the cubes are not working at all as I don't have any signs of algae and im sure the thick dark skim mate must be from the cubes doing their thing and the skimmer skimming it out.

Reefhead said:
May I ask if you running cubes why do you want to run a Carbon dosing system?
Then also what size is your tank (total litres) and what size is your skimmer?
what are your nutrient levels at the moment?
Are you planning on dosing and using cubes at the same time?
Click to expand...
 
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4age said:
@Reefhead. I am not decided on dosing carbon, and I am exploring options. My current tank is about 380litres with sump. Skimmer is a custom made skimmer rated for 1000litres with askol pump and runs very well..pulls out thick very dark skim mate.

I cant remember off hand as I tested a few weeks back, and don't have my notes with me at work. I will have to retest later but I know that nitrates were present at low levels and some phosphate too, but not at high levels. My sps haven't browned out.

If the cubes work I wont worry with other carbon dosing, but im running a mix of normal and titanium for over 3months and nitrates have never dropped to 0...I might just add more cubes and see. I do not think that the cubes are not working at all as I don't have any signs of algae and im sure the thick dark skim mate must be from the cubes doing their thing and the skimmer skimming it out.
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Well then I have to ask why try fix whats not broken? :)
 
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4age said:
but im running a mix of normal and titanium for over 3months and nitrates have never dropped to 0...I might just add more cubes and see. I do not think that the cubes are not working at all as I don't have any signs of algae and im sure the thick dark skim mate must be from the cubes doing their thing and the skimmer skimming it out.
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Have you looked into increasing your bacteria dosing?
Maybe by adding more bacteria, you can export more nutrients, and then this will decrease your NO3 and PO4...

Im currently suffering from an imbalance in my system...Think Redfield ratio...My problem is, I have undetectable NO# but high PO4...Im now running GFO to bring PO4 down. Im also suffering with cyano on my sandbed that just refuses to go...Work in progress I guess...
 
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4age said:
coz im looking at future plans..wna have sps system with super low nutrients so I can play around with colours a bit:p
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So before you change the whole filtration system why not first add more cubes and maybe increase your bacterial count with some dosing and see if that works. Then you wont have to change something thats working for you but rather just improve it abit
 
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