Vodka Vodka Comrades!

[Lady J]

There are a multitude of ways to run a healthy marine system from lights, skimmers or skimmerless, fuge or no fuge, using macro algae or not, sump or no sump, bare bottom or DSB, etc. What works for one person may not for another. It also depends on what is in your tank. If it's a fowlr, well, they (the fish) generally don't care about the light (unless light specific) too much but it's what we like to see. Soft corals are much more forgiving of less than stellar water conditions than are most sps.

I think one thing that often gets neglected for discussion is how the corals are doing (assuming it's a reef). Keeping them alive and having them thrive and flourish are two very different things. When the lamps on my t5s were getting old, some of my corals started reaching for the light because of less intensity. Their colors weakened and they weren't opening as well as when the lights were newer and stronger. And I started having algae outbreaks.

I agree that lighting often gets neglected and that's a serious issue for reef tanks unless they are NPS only. Stable, good water parameters, excellent filtration, appropriate water flow, correct temperature, and the correct lighting are essential for a healthy system (in addition to many other things) as you all well know. It's not even an argument. Humans cannot replicate, exactly, all that is in an ocean nor can we provide true sunlight (well, I guess we could come pretty close if our tank sat outside in a region where corals thrive, with no top on the tank). But, we do try.

 

[jeasko]

nor can we provide true sunlight (well, I guess we could come pretty close if our tank sat outside in a region where corals thrive, with no top on the tank). But, we do try.

Try we do and it seems we get closer with every new bit of tech that comes out, the latest being plasma light def worth a look if you get a chance either on YouTube or just a net search it's impressive stuff and is where Led 's were about 5-6 years ago in terms of being developed for normal applications!

 

[Salam]

Blimming eck, I thought this was a joke, but I've learnt something new Not that I'm going to, but Vodka in a fish tank? Strange, but cool.

 

[jeasko]

Blimming eck, I thought this was a joke, but I've learnt something new Not that I'm going to, but Vodka in a fish tank? Strange, but cool.

Vodka is best drunk not dosed

 

[Salam]

Blimming eck, I thought this was a joke, but I've learnt something new Not that I'm going to, but Vodka in a fish tank? Strange, but cool.

Vodka is best drunk not dosed

True, true It ain't gonna be wasted on fish.

 

[Lady J]

nor can we provide true sunlight (well, I guess we could come pretty close if our tank sat outside in a region where corals thrive, with no top on the tank). But, we do try.

Try we do and it seems we get closer with every new bit of tech that comes out, the latest being plasma light def worth a look if you get a chance either on YouTube or just a net search it's impressive stuff and is where Led 's were about 5-6 years ago in terms of being developed for normal applications!

Oohh, cool, I haven't heard of plasma lights----I must check those out. And yes, the technology just keeps improving!

 

[Lady J]

Blimming eck, I thought this was a joke, but I've learnt something new Not that I'm going to, but Vodka in a fish tank? Strange, but cool.

I don't drink and never dosed vodka in my tank, but it's worth having in the house if your tank crashes---then you have something to drink cuz you're wayyyy beyond upset. j/k I wonder: if fish that like to hang upside down when resting, well, would they hang right side up if they were drunk from the vodka?

 

[vanny]

Hello folks,
I would like to give an update on me dosing my tank with vodka, 2-3 drops per day.
before I started the nitrate level was about 20 to 30 ppm, but now I am testing 0 nitrates about a month into dosing.
this is how my tank looks like from the first day.

I admit there is a bit of algae growing, but its because of the strong led lights I recently added. But I am in the process of adding some chaeto algae to my refuge to compete with the algae in the main.

 

[vanny]

Also the coral are doing fine with the addition of strong LED lights 2000k the zoanthid colony is no longer stretching towards the light (lights may be a bit too intense thought),
the xenia looks fine and is pulsing after 3 weeks from date of purchase.
however, the green star polyp is open but very shy under the strong light and is being surrounded by algae.

 

[Lady J]

Congrats on getting the nitrates to 0!

Your gsp are in a bit of shock right now due to the intensity of the light. If it's possible, you could create an overhang for them so they are shaded a bit. If you choose that route, you could keep them in shade for a while during the daily photo period and then remove the rock and expose them to the light for the rest of it. It requires putting your hands in the tank a lot but is one method of helping them along. Often times when people are changing light intensity they put several layers of screen or eggcrate over the tank. After approximately one week of two layers they will remove one and keep only that on for another week or even a bit longer. By doing this you are slowly acclimating your corals to the intensity. A third possibility is to simply shorten the photo period, say anywhere from 25% or even 50%. For example, instead of leaving the lights on for 10 hours only run them for five and slowly increase the photo period until you're back to the full amount of time.

f you don't have a phosphate kit it's certainly worth getting one. Often times the water you're using has phosphates in it so you essentially are always feeding the algae. Very early in my reefing I had some algae but after the cycle was complete I didn't battle it for years (except the hair algae on the overflow plumbing which I mentioned earlier due to the distilled water I was using). However, as the others mentioned, the algae you have right now is common for the stage your tank is in. And, as I mentioned earlier, if possible you also could buy an inexpensive phosban reactor and run that.

For an immediate solution you could take the rock out the next time you do a water change (meaning put it in the container with the old water), scrub the heck out it and then put it back into the tank. I bought a new toothbrush (firm vs. soft) that was used for this and it worked great. Toothbrushes also work well for getting the part where the seams meet because those are tough areas to clean. However, this is a temporary fix because as the others said, it is not getting to the source of what's feeding the algae. So again, if possible get a phosban reactor (they're not expensive at all).

Hope this helps.

 

[Lady J]

My apologies, the fist sentence in the second paragraph should say If you don't have a phosphate kit... didn't key the I lol

 

[lljdma06]

Yeah, reducing the photo period after a lighting upgrade is usually the easiest option, Lady J.

Also remember that when you purchase corals, a lot of people forget to light acclimate them. This takes about a week, if you really want the job done right. I guess I'm more aware of it because I've got halide tanks and I can really give my corals a good frying if I'm not careful.

Tank looks good. I still think vodka is best for drinking, hahaha, but I'm seeing good results here. I only have picos though, so slapping a bag of purigen will more than likely get rid of any nitrates I may have.

L

 

[Lady J]

Yeah, reducing the photo period after a lighting upgrade is usually the easiest option, Lady J.

Also remember that when you purchase corals, a lot of people forget to light acclimate them. This takes about a week, if you really want the job done right. I guess I'm more aware of it because I've got halide tanks and I can really give my corals a good frying if I'm not careful.

Tank looks good. I still think vodka is best for drinking, hahaha, but I'm seeing good results here. I only have picos though, so slapping a bag of purigen will more than likely get rid of any nitrates I may have.

L

Yes, reducing the photo period is definitely the easiest route to go. There have been times when reefers are reluctant to choose that option though because they don't want some of their high-light demanding corals to go a long time with a reduced photo period. Me, I would just reduce it---much simpler, you don't have your hands in the tank and you don't have to buy screen or eggcrate.