Nitrate And Phosphates

[barebottomcouple]

i see a lot of questions and solutions to high nitrates and phosphates I have personally used this method and it really helped eliminate any trace of hair algae in my systems...
its easy ....no equipment to buy or run......and a shot for tank and a shot for me(bonus)....
also I used prince Igor vodka its got a high inorganic carbon content and cheap ...I used it after my move and reset nitrates where up over 50 I did 4 tsp (380 total gallons) a day for 8 days and went and went to near 0 and stopped using
just trying to help out fellow reefers
here is a simplified article
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/ni...t=20150304&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exp_nl

 

[TORX]

I used vodka for a long time with great results. I only switched as i did not have a doser and was having trouble dosing the daily amount. I have thought about going back actually now that I have a doser.

 

[barebottomcouple]

I used vodka for a long time with great results. I only switched as i did not have a doser and was having trouble dosing the daily amount. I have thought about going back actually now that I have a doser.

I don't have a doser but that would be great that way just have to keep the hoses out of my shot glass lol

 

[Kman]

I haven't tried vodka dosing but I do have a question. Did you find a difference when you switched to a new bottle of vodka and had to adjust your amounts? Because each batch of vodka will very in purity and inorganic carbon rates. I would think because of the difference in each batch you could run into the possibility of overdosing or underdosing of your carbon source when you switch. Versus something that was designed to be constant like nitraguard for a carbon source.

 

[barebottomcouple]

I haven't tried vodka dosing but I do have a question. Did you find a difference when you switched to a new bottle of vodka and had to adjust your amounts? Because each batch of vodka will very in purity and inorganic carbon rates. I would think because of the difference in each batch you could run into the possibility of overdosing or underdosing of your carbon source when you switch. Versus something that was designed to be constant like nitraguard for a carbon source.

how do you know nitraguard is that pure do you test it.... how do you know your carbon or even the food you put into your tank has nothing in it what about the chemicals we all dose.. are they pure?...what governing body controls ingredients in the food or doses we use... is there a pet FDA... a lot of chemicals we buy don't even list all the ingredients and amounts.... from my reading and research vodka seems to be a pretty safe method of carbon dosing

 

[Kman]

I was just wondering. I had read up on a discussion about the variance in it a few years ago. One guy was pretty adamant that was happening to him. He wasn't having good results with it.
Vodka dosing does look like a good option and clearly you can get good results from it. I myself had considered it but didn't have a doser at the time and didn't want to do it manually.

Have you tested it on a really high nutrient level tank? How fast were the result if you have. I am interested to see the difference in vodka vs Nitraguard. Mine was slow to kick it and took a few months to work.

I totally agree that a lot of chemicals we buy don't list the ingredients.

 

[barebottomcouple]

all I can say is when I did it my nitrates went from just a tad over 50 to undetectable( I assume not 0 as accuracy of tests can vary) in 8 days my nitrate problem came from a move.. so everything was a mess due to sand bed disturbance probably and nitrates and phosphates flew up. i do heavily feed my tank due to several clams and non photosynthetic gorgonians and only have 12 fish but i don't dose vodka anymore once i reached my target i slowly stopped.. i was scared to stop cold turkey

 

[Kman]

Those are some good results on a heavy fed and stocked tank. I had similar issues with my crushed coral causing problems. I tried putting in a rubble zone where my gorgonian and leather were to give it a cool contrast and different zone. It didn't work as well as I hoped. So for a few months I had a issue with nitrates till I got it out.

I read if you go cold turkey with the vodka it could crash the tank. So good idea going slow.

Thanks for your input on it.

 

[Pistol]

I dosed vodka for a while with good results but found it was great for nitrates but not so for phosphates, I finally gave up because the bacteria was clogging my socks quickly and I was changing them daily(pain), whether you are starting or stopping you must go slowly.
I'm back to the sulphur denitrator. The cheaper the vodka the better.