I have actually just started this 2 weeks ago. I also dose microbacter7 with the vodka.
I have only started, but you can tell the diff.
I started the first week dosing 3ml of vodka per day into my ~70gal system. Right away the water cleared up a bit. But I had already (before dosing vodka) had some cyano in my tank and dosing the vodka just helped it grow. so early last week I stopped dosing vodka and started only dosing macrobacter7 and I did a 3 day black out. today is the first day with my lights back on and the tank is VERY clean :) I will continue dosing the macrobacter7 for a bit and when I feel its ready (when I feel like the good bacteria I am dosing has had a chance to out compete the bad bacteria) I will start dosing vodka again to fuel their growth :)
The reason I took up this method is because I have had consistent problems in my tank since setup with algae and what not. I believe it is due to my crushed coral substrate and the amount of detris that gets collected in my system. I have always been 0 nitrates but that didnt keep the algae from growing! XP
Soon I will be upgrading to my 75g tank and replacing the crushed coral. Also will be running carbon (and GFO if needed) in my new BRS duel reactor. I will continue vodka/macrobacter7 dosing in my new system as well for I have seen some very successful tanks ran like this and want to give my shot at it.
The only problem I foresee long term is that your system actually becomes SO clean that I may have to start dosing amino acids to the tank to keep your corals healthy.
PS you have to have a very good skimmer rated 2-3 times your system size in order for this to work.
Essentially you are dosing "good" bacteria population and fueling their growth (with a carbon source: vodka, sugar, vinegar) and as they populate and eat up everything as they fatten up your skimmer pulls them out and along with them all that they had consumed, essentially pulling out lots of nitrates/phosphates from your system with them.
