Chris & Barb asked me to post my experiences since starting with vodka dosing so I am going to give it my best shot. I must say up front that this is just my personal experience, and I would not recommend anyone start dosing vodka without researching it on their own first. What peeked my interest in this bacterial driven method of nutrient reduction was an article in Reef Keeping Magazine. After reading the article I searched the internet for more information and found several threads on RC where individuals had recounted their experiences. I decided to give it a try as it sounded like a great way to keep nutrients low while allowing me to continue feeding my fish 2-3 times a day. I had noticed my nitrates were creeping up from 5 to 10 in between water changes and I really wanted to lower those numbers so that I could bring out the best colors and growth in my sps corals.

Here is a link to the article which contains the charts that I used to determine the dosage.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

Before I started dosing the vodka I began adding 8 drops of Micro Bactor 7 daily for 2 weeks to seed the tank with the good bacteria that would use the carbon source (vodka) to lower my nitrates and phosphates. From my research on the subject I learned that many vodka dosers add a bacteria product along with the vodka to help keep the bacteria population more diversified and prevent a mono-culture. There are many different products out there zeo, prodibio, fauna marine, ect... My guess is that they all work, but I like the Brightwells product because it allows me to add small amounts daily and is not as expensive as some of the other brands.

Here is an outline of my dosing:
8 drops MB7 daily for 2 weeks
.5ml v- 4 drops MB7 daily first 2 weeks
.75ml v- 4 drops Mb7 daily 2 weeks
1.0ml v- 4 drops MB7 daily 2 weeks
1.5ml v- 4 drops MB7 daily 3 weeks

At this point I began to see a drop in my nitrates from about 10 down to 5 and then down to about 2. I have hard time reading the chart at anything below 10 with saliferts test kit so I am estimating when I say my levels are 2. I checked with an API test kit and I get 0. I don't bother testing phosphates because I don't have a hana meter and I can't justify the cost so I am assuming my levels are low since I don't have any nuisance type algae in the tank. Because my nitrate levels were dropping I decided to go ahead and cut my dosing levels in half for the vodka. I have been dosing .75ml for the past 3 weeks and my nitrate level has stayed between 0-2 which seems to be working well for my tank. My corals look good, the water is crystal clear,and I could go a week or even longer without cleaning the glass if I wanted to.

Since starting with the vodka the biggest change to my system has been less maintenance to keep the tank looking its best. I can safely go 2-3 weeks between water changes without getting diatoms or other unsightly algae that tended to crop up. I can feed my fish without worry of polluting my tank and many of my corals have shown increased growth and are coloring up very nicely. I will post some progression photos tomorrow or the next day, but you can see pics of my tank in the thread here: my-95g-reef-photo-intense-t4782.html.

I do something similar but I do the brightwell neozeo system. I dose microbacter 7 but instead of vodka for a carbon source I use brightwells reefbiofuel. I have been very impressed with the results. I had several sps that where browning out due to excess nutrients. In a matter of about a month and a half I had seen almost a complete reversal and colors improved.

Ellen looks great, I was dosing for a while and seemed to work pretty well but you need to keep it going.

I see your leppard wrasse is doing well. Mine has changed colors and looks completly different.

billrob71 wrote:Ellen looks great, I was dosing for a while and seemed to work pretty well but you need to keep it going.

I see your leppard wrasse is doing well. Mine has changed colors and looks completly different.

Post up a pic. I bet she changed to a he which is not that uncommon with leopards when there is no male present. I would love to have pair, but my tank is overstocked now with 10 fish.


Why did you stop dosing?

D3monic wrote:I do something similar but I do the brightwell neozeo system. I dose microbacter 7 but instead of vodka for a carbon source I use brightwells reefbiofuel. I have been very impressed with the results. I had several sps that where browning out due to excess nutrients. In a matter of about a month and a half I had seen almost a complete reversal and colors improved.

I thought about doing a full blown system like that, but I need to keep things as simple as possible since my husband takes care of the tank quite frequently when I am out of town.

Some of my corals have really started to change colors also. Do you have a thread showing your progress with photos? I would love to see it.

I see you started out a lot slower the the chart in RK suggests. Was that just out of caution? I tried carbon dosing a while back, before there were any real guide lines and didnt have the best results. My guess is i was too aggressive.

I was considering trying this mix of carbon sources http://glassbox-design.com/2008/achieve ... mentation/ But they are not very clear on dosage.

I started too but honestly im too lazy. I had a fancy spread sheet I made out for dosing records. I had 9 different chems that I was dosing everynight.I was also testing the water every night. That lasted about a month and a half. Honestly I dont think ive tested the water in a month and I dose pretty much when I remember.

chris&barb wrote:I see you started out a lot slower the the chart in RK suggests. Was that just out of caution? I tried carbon dosing a while back, before there were any real guide lines and didnt have the best results. My guess is i was too aggressive.

I was considering trying this mix of carbon sources http://glassbox-design.com/2008/achieve ... mentation/ But they are not very clear on dosage.

yes. I was being overly cautious as this was something I had little experience with. I did not want to shock my corals.
I have been very pleased with the results. I have read some stuff about the vodka-sugar- vinegar mixture and some people are having good success with it as well. My tank seems to be doing well with just the vodka and mb7 so I haven't wanted to try anything else. One important point I should mention for those that are new to this method is the need for an oversized skimmer. The skimmer must be able to pull out the excess bacteria and keep 02 levels up.

Are u going try it again Chris?

I will try and get some pics up soon.

I might try it again. I really hate paying the high price for GFO. If i do ill talk about it

So hows everything going for you with dosing ento? What are your nitrates at and are you planing on keeping them at 0ppm or just above?

How many weeks total have you been dosing now?

chris&barb wrote:So hows everything going for you with dosing ento? What are your nitrates at and are you planing on keeping them at 0ppm or just above?

How many weeks total have you been dosing now?

Things are still going well. I can't remember exactly how long I have been dosing, but probably 3 months or so. I am still holding at about 5pmm nitrate if I believe the salifert test. I am still just dosing .75ml of vodka with the mb7. Everything looks good in the tank so I am hesitant to change what I am doing. I am a heavy feeder so I am sure if I cut back a little I could get my nitrate to zero with the dosing. I don't think zero levels are really that important as long as everything in the tank is healthy. Here are a couple of recent pics.

That looks fantastic ento. your coral colors are looking great.

I agree that nitrates at 0 are not necessary. I hope to get them back to about 2ppm where they used to be.

Wow ento I love your rockwork

Wow, i love the rock work as well.

chris&barb wrote:That looks fantastic ento. your coral colors are looking great.

I agree that nitrates at 0 are not necessary. I hope to get them back to about 2ppm where they used to be.

Thats why I started dosing. My nitrates were creeping above 5 in between water changes. I am going to try and keep them stable at 5 or slightly below with my dosing.