Alcohol Dosing in a Reef Tanks

[Sebae again]

Yeah. I have to tell my wife it's for the fish tank.

[TheRealBigAL]

You gotta use GREYGOOSE !

[albert_dao]

There's a lot of instances out there where longterm vodka dosing causes RANDOM dieoffs of everything in the tank - everything!

The main cause is depleted oxygen.

[Oceanic]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

There's a lot of instances out there where longterm vodka dosing causes RANDOM dieoffs of everything in the tank - everything!

The main cause is depleted oxygen.

This is why I chose not to use this method. I have read some nasty stories as well as other issues that have popped up.

[mark]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

There's a lot of instances out there where longterm vodka dosing causes RANDOM dieoffs of everything in the tank - everything!

The main cause is depleted oxygen.

Wouldn't good aeration/surface agitation be able to keep up to O2?

[albert_dao]

No, because the rate that monocultures reach critical mass is explosive. One day, there's enough oxygen for everyone, the next day, the bacterial mass doubles, doubles, then doubles again and smothers everything out. A bit of surface aggitation cannot alleviate that kind of momentum.

[fencer]

I agree with Alberts comment. This is why I decided not to dose to the max. carrying capicity of the system. But rather to dose for supplemental carbon source. The fact that in past readings people dosed till bacterial started buliding visible slime colonies made me decide to back way off the dosing regimen some people were advocating.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

No, because the rate that monocultures reach critical mass is explosive. One day, there's enough oxygen for everyone, the next day, the bacterial mass doubles, doubles, then doubles again and smothers everything out. A bit of surface aggitation cannot alleviate that kind of momentum.

Why must there be a monoculture? I know the ZEObac, as well as Prodibio's products, include several strains of beneficial bacterias. When dosing vodka, many people are continuing to add these products (bacterias) to their systems. As well, the rationale behind the Vodka-Sugar-Vinegar mixture is that different carbon sources feed different bacterias more readily. So having 3 different carbon sources makes a monoculture highly unlikely.

[fencer]

I was drip feeding it. It just worked out to 10ml/6hrs( I had to cut it with 500 ml of water too)

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by Der_Iron_Chef

Why must there be a monoculture? I know the ZEObac, as well as Prodibio's products, include several strains of beneficial bacterias. When dosing vodka, many people are continuing to add these products (bacterias) to their systems. As well, the rationale behind the Vodka-Sugar-Vinegar mixture is that different carbon sources feed different bacterias more readily. So having 3 different carbon sources makes a monoculture highly unlikely.

Well, I'd agree with you, except for that fact that the system is hardly refined and people still get monoculture blooms. Maybe it's the ratios or the types of carbon sources, who knows.