vodka dosing a tank

here are a couple intresting links i thought that i would share with everyone to see what you guys think. i think it is very intersting

http://glassbox-design.com/2008/vsv-...reef-aquarium/

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...5&pagenumber=1

interesting sounds like it should work. the coral death and no room for error scares me the most but i guess if you are just starting a tank to get the bio filtration going in theory it should work. have you used this yet?

ive heard that your tank can become dependent on vodka when you do vodka dosing

My biggest concern with trying to manipulate baterial populations is that there is no way to know or test what is actualy going on per the population levels. That and those same bacteria can turn on and attack your corals and fish. Kind of like flooding a room with bacteria to "clean" it and then make you stand in that room breathing in all that bacteria, which would most likely overwhelm your immune system and end up with a bacterial infection. Just as happens with fish when they get "pop eye" for example or when a coral's microbial coating turns on the coral and begins to eat the coral itself. I found this link to be very telling:

http://www.accessexcellence.org/WN/S...bact_oct06.htm

My take on the subject with further links:

Dosing sugar or vodka

Chuck

Great articles Charles.
I personally,perfer to save the vodka for myself.

One grey goose in the belly is better than two in the tank!

I tried carbon dosing a few years ago, and it did not seem to make a dent in my nitrates. I eventually stopped trying because I heard too many stories of tanks crashing once you stop dosing. Biologically, the theory is sound. Bacteria seem to be limited by carbon, so add a carbon source to fuel their growth. But it seems as though you need to be very careful when dosing, as not to cause a bacterial bloom and subsequent tank crash. You also risk creating a hypoxic environment and killing everything in your tank that way.

i have never dosed my tank with anything and i dont think i ever will. Consistent water changes have proven to me to be the ultimate health factor (but im also not heavily stocked) so I'll stick with that until i hit a serious issue.

The thought of vodka in my tank disturbs me. The thought of vodka in my belly makes me happy.

I personally have been dosing sugar for the last 2 months or so. Nitrates went from 50ppm to 0.2
Phosphate from 0.50 to 0.03 or less.
I dose smaller than I need to, just to prevent any accidental swings as described above by Biff. The first time I put in too much, and made the tank cloudy for a day. Dosed 1/2tsp 4 days later and have done every day, and the nutrients came down gradually. It's working well for me, anyway.

jag do you have any links on sugar dosing, never heard of it before