Microbacter7 / VSV - Week 1

[jcom]

I am about to embark on a Vodka dosing journey (VSV actually) in my 120 Gallon. Since my tank has registered undetectable nitrates and phosphates (Salifert) for almost a year, I am starting from the already "low level" methodology. My tank has been running for over 5 years and I'm quite certain its bacterial diversity is low. I have therefore started to seed my tank with Microbacter7 two weeks in advance of my first doses of VSV.

I am 1 week into seeding with MB7 and I'm just starting to see a couple of changes and I'm wondering if these are normal and expected. Side note: my remote 20G refugium is still online, I am running 1.5 cups GFO in a BRS reactor, and I'm running 2 cups GAC in a BRS reactor. The changes I'm seeing is that the tips of some of my SPS are getting bluer. I don't believe this is a placebo effect as my girlfriend has commented on it without any knowledge of what's going on. Also, there is less film forming on my glass and the skimmer is pulling slightly more gunk. Lastly, and something that is concerning, is that one of my most stable SPS colonies is lightening up in just the last 48 hours and the PE is not as good. One other colony that normally exhibits excellent PE is about 70% PE. Upon noticing this, I left my MHs off yesterday and raised my lights by about 1.5 inches (2 X 250W Phoenix 14k & 4 X 54W ATIs)

From those of you with experience, is this normal and should I be concerned about the SPS? Was I right to raise the lights? Is this from clarification of the water as people have noted occurs when dosing? My water was already clear, but I'm assuming that even further, increased clarity may happen when dosing.

I didn't expect anything to start happening until I started dosing VSV, but who knows???

 

[Troylee]

I really have mixed feelings on this subject... I have dosed mb7 and vodka for a couple years now and got mixed results... Right now I layed off the vodka and I'm using mb7 with brightwells neo zeo stones in a reactor and getting better results than just using the mb7 and vodka... I actually gave up the vodka since I kept getting the bio film in my sump and cloudy water in the tank... Which prolly means a over dose but I used very little and I'm exp with it so I'm not sure what happened really... I have exp better results by just using one or the other than combining them... Hmmmmm dunno sunny seems to really love it... I notice all my sps turn blue from it even my garf bonsai lol...

 

[jcom]

Hmm...interesting. Since I haven't started dosing the VSV, I'm not yet committed. I have been seeing good reports and feedback from the pellet crew (NP, Ecobak, Stones, etc.) and would still consider going this route. Seems like less daily, religious maintenance yet is still effective. Decisions, decisions....

I am unfortunately not one of those "green thumbs" when it comes to coral growing as some people are. It always amazes me when I read about people that are all nonchalant about husbandry, yet have picture perfect coral gardens. Kudos to them. I've got the touch when it comes to gardening veggies and xeriscaping my yard, but not in the tank. James "Brown" ain't got $ h i t on me! I did turn the corner, however, when I switched to ATI T5s from crappy GLOs along with a GFO reactor, things are looking a lot better...but still a long way to go.

 

[SunnyX]

Hello,

I would cut the GFO usage and slowly take the fuge offline. These both are competing with the bacteria for food and it is a recipe for disaster. If corals are lightening up rapidly then stop all dosing for two days and start up again using half of the prior dosages.

Also, you will need a good bioload to maximize the effects of the dosages. A good amount of fish is key, and you must feed daily. If you have any more questions relating to MB7/vodka please check us out out in the SPS forum under MB7 guide: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/general-sps-discussion/41018-microbacter7-vodka-dosing-guide.html

 

[jcom]

Hello,

I would cut the GFO usage and slowly take the fuge offline. These both are competing with the bacteria for food and it is a recipe for disaster. If corals are lightening up rapidly then stop all dosing for two days and start up again using half of the prior dosages.

Also, you will need a good bioload to maximize the effects of the dosages. A good amount of fish is key, and you must feed daily. If you have any more questions relating to MB7/vodka please check us out out in the SPS forum under MB7 guide: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/general-sps-discussion/41018-microbacter7-vodka-dosing-guide.html

Ok. It's going to be a challenge to take the fuge offline "slowly" as I have a remote fuge (behind the wall) that is on a pump/flowback trickle feed. It's kind of "all or nothing" with the fuge. I'm not sure how to go about doing this other than just shutting it off, then I'd be concerned about a nitrate spike as it's been the sole reason behind my nitrates being so low to begin with.

I have a pretty good fish count for my 120 and I'm feeding more frequently with a super food frozen mixture that I recently made.

Hmmm.....(scratching head)

 

[jcom]

Well, I yanked half of the chaeto out of my refugium to start stepping it down and I took my GFO reactor offline (PO4 tested 0.00 on Hanna yesterday). Still haven't started dosing vodka yet, just seeding MB7 still. Guess we'll see what happens.