Dosing 95% ethanol for nitrates and phosphates

[Blue Ring Sting]

Hi All

I wanted to know how I would go about dosing 95% ethanol in my aquarium. My aquarium is 25 gallons. It is not vodka per say, it is listed as ETHANOL 95/E5 25 LT ( 20 KG ) on my chemical suppliers list.

Most the recommend dosages are 0.1 ml per 25 gallons daily for 3 days and then day 4 - 7 you then double the dosage. After that each subsequent week you up the dose by 0.5 ml irrelevant to water volume and if the nutrients don't drop within that week you up the dosage the following week by 0.5 ml again. When Nitrates and Phosphates become undetectable you then cut the dosage in half. Here is the link, http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/

On these instructions the highest percentage of ethanol is 80%, has anyone used 95% ethanol and how did you dose it in your aquarium?

Another link that I have found is http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/nit...dka-Method.htm and there it shows that you do 0.5 ml per 100 gallons and 0.125 for 25 gallons but it says that it is administered each day for 3 days and then it doesn't say what you need to do to the dosage after the first 3 day.

Any information would help.

Thanx

[disc1]

I would just adjust the dosage for the amount of ethanol you have. For instance, regular vodka is 40% and you have 95%, so take the normal doage of vodka and cut it a little more than in half.

ie, for every 1ml of vodka equates to 0.42ml (40 / 95) of 95% instead. Then you're basically doing the exact same thing just with smaller volumes since your ethanol is more concentrated. To the tank it looks the same.

[downbeach]

Another possibility would be to cut it with RO/DI water. If you made a 50/50 solution, you could use the formula for 100 proof located in your link.

[Blue Ring Sting]

Thanks for the information guys. From reading one of the links, I see that Delbeek administered 3 ml. of 95% ethanol to a 600 gallon reef system each day for three days.

So if you use 95% ethanol in a 100 gallon tank the dosage is then 0.5 ml and in a 25 gallon its 0.125 ml. This is how the dosage is measured.

Does this seem right? Also how do you administer the dosage after 3 days? Do you double the dosage or continue using the 0.125 ml throughout?

[disc1]

Originally Posted by Blue Ring Sting

Thanks for the information guys. From reading one of the links, I see that Delbeek administered 3 ml. of 95% ethanol to a 600 gallon reef system each day for three days.

So if you use 95% ethanol in a 100 gallon tank the dosage is then 0.5 ml and in a 25 gallon its 0.125 ml. This is how the dosage is measured.

Does this seem right? Also how do you administer the dosage after 3 days? Do you double the dosage or continue using the 0.125 ml throughout?

I would just follow the directions for regular vodka and adjust the volumes to fit the fact that your ethanol is more concentrated.

Or dilute the ethanol to vodka strength and then use it like regular vodka.

The dosing scheme for vodka is pretty well worked out, there's no need to reinvent the wheel. This is another place where a little bit of math would save you a whole lot of trouble.

[Blue Ring Sting]

Thanks for that. I will adjust it to regular vodka.

Which is the best suited ethanol quantity for the aquarium? I was not able to find much information on the net with regards to the use of 95% ethanol.

So I will follow the 3 days then 4 - 7 days double and then 0.5 ml every subsequent week.

[disc1]

Originally Posted by Blue Ring Sting

Thanks for that. I will adjust it to regular vodka.

Which is the best suited ethanol quantity for the aquarium? I was not able to find much information on the net with regards to the use of 95% ethanol.

So I will follow the 3 days then 4 - 7 days double and then 0.5 ml every subsequent week.

You understand that in the grand scheme of things the percentage of ethanol doesn't make any difference right? Ethanol is ethanol, it's just that what you have has about twice as much ethanol per ml as regular vodka.

So in reality there is TONS and TONS and TONS of info out there on how to dose your 95% ethanol. Look at all those vodka dosing threads. Cut their volumes in half and have at.

[disc1]

It is kind of like hearing people say it cost them 15 dimes to buy some thing. But you only have quarters. The price doesn't change because you use quarters, just the number of coins you have to use. If it cost them 15 dimes then it will cost you 6 quarters.

Same with the ethanol thing. They're using 40% and you're using 95%. You both need to add the same amount of ethanol to the tank, they're just adding a little more water with theirs. They're using more ml, but the same amount of ethanol.

[blanden.adam]

If you don't mind my asking, why did you opt to go with 95% ethanol? I know what chemical suppliers charge for it, and even with negotiated contract discounts, it's still an order of magnitude more expensive than the bottom shelf vodka people use for their tanks.

[Blue Ring Sting]

Thanks for that disc. It makes a lot more sense when you put it that way.

For 95% ethanol I pay about $ 30 for 25 l. It made more sense to me to purchase bulk and use as I go along.

[Blue Ring Sting]

Disc, so if I had to take 500 ml of ethanol and 500 ml of RO/DI water what would the ethanol content be?

So please just confirm if this is right? 95% ethanol is 95% and 5% water?

[disc1]

Originally Posted by Blue Ring Sting

Thanks for that disc. It makes a lot more sense when you put it that way.

For 95% ethanol I pay about $ 30 for 25 l. It made more sense to me to purchase bulk and use as I go along.

That's awfully cheap. You absolutely sure it isn't denatured? It should say somewhere on the label.

[Blue Ring Sting]

No its not. I am 100% sure. I made sure when I bought it. I am in South Africa. That is the price of 95% ethanol.

[disc1]

Originally Posted by Blue Ring Sting

I am in South Africa.

Well that certainly makes a difference.

Just wanted to make sure though. If it had methanol that's not such a bad thing, but some of the other stuff that can be found in denatured alcohol might be a problem. But if you're sure it's not denatured then it should be perfectly fine to use.

[Blue Ring Sting]

Lol. Yeah I made sure that there wasnt anything in that would of created problems for me.

Yeah things in South Africa are a lot cheaper. Thats why I have been posting the questions relating to the chemicals. As instead of purchasing Red Sea and Seachem products I can purchase mine cheaper from chemical companies.

[ggsteve]

Wow, I didn't even know you could get 95% yield on Ethanol, but organic chemistry was a very long time ago. At 95% it must be sucking the water out of the air as soon as you open it.

[Blue Ring Sting]

Yeah 95% is here. Lol. You know it is here when opened.

[Twistofer]

Originally Posted by Blue Ring Sting

Disc, so if I had to take 500 ml of ethanol and 500 ml of RO/DI water what would the ethanol content be?

So please just confirm if this is right? 95% ethanol is 95% and 5% water?

Yes 95% Ethanol (EtOH) is 95% EtOH and 5% H2O. Your 1 liter solution (500 ml each) then comes to 47.5% EtOH solution, which is close to 80 Proof Vodka (40% EtOH).

By the way, these measurements are by volume, not weight, which makes a big difference in concentration.

[Blue Ring Sting]

Thanks Twistofer. So then I will just need to follow the 80 proof vodka dosage instructions.

So if its 25 l I can just mix 500 ml on with 500 ml RO/DI water every time I need to make more.

[downbeach]

I think if you mixed it 50/50 it would be considered 95 proof, so I think you'd be closer if you used the 100 proof formula.

[disc1]

Originally Posted by ggsteve

Wow, I didn't even know you could get 95% yield on Ethanol, but organic chemistry was a very long time ago. At 95% it must be sucking the water out of the air as soon as you open it.

Nah, 95% is the azeotrope point. That's what you should theoretically get out of a good distillation. Going above 95% takes extra work, usually adding benzene to the distillation or drying over sodium sulfate or something like that. But 95% is easy to get. That's what you get when you go buy pure grain alcohol at the liquor store at 190 proof.

[Genj]

You might want to ask for a COA on the product first. I can tell you that lots of ethanol has copper, and other stuff in it.

Anything about 195 proof is usually achieved via a molecular sieve.

[black hills tj]

I am looking to dosing ethanol. Where I work, we use molecular sieves to produce 200 proof(1% H2O or less). We produce over 300 gallons a minute, so the minute amount I would be getting is so miniscule my boss told me not to worry about it. Now I just nees to do the math to dose my 29g cube. This thread has been a lot of help.

[outssider]

25 liters is going to last you a looooooonnnnnnnggggg time, unless you're dosing a swiming pool.....

[shermanator]

I realize the OP is old, but that source is NOT 95% ethanol and 5% water. The other 5% is ethyl acetate.

Nearly all high concentration ethanol is denatured. And many ways to denature ethanol. Some (like methanol) are (most likely) tank friendly. Some are not.