So I'm using a make-shift calcium reactor as a top-off and am having a little trouble figuring out if I'm adding too much vinegar to the tank. So to give you a little history, I am a budget reefer that was researching calcium reactors for informational purposes and got to thinking. If people are dosing vinegar for carbon and using a calcium reactor to reduce coral skeletons down to their base elements, why can't I combine the two for a nano system and react vinegar with crushed coral and drip the product into the tank. After a week of trying this as an experiment, it donned on me that I could mix the vinegar with distilled water and top-off the sump at the same time, simultaneously slowing down the chemical reaction. After a few weeks of doing this with no negative side effects, it dons on me I'm not sure how much acetic acid is going into the tank and how much is being converted to water and other product in the reaction. So the reagents are 500ml of crushed coral and shell, 1200ml distilled water, and 60ml of 6% distilled white vinegar. If nobody is sure on this, I can tear out the chemistry books and calculate how much, if any acetic acid is left in the solution when it's dripped at .5gph directly into the tank, but i was hoping somebody on here might know a down and dirty way of figuring it out. My main concerns are overdosing the tank with carbon, or not carbon dosing enough to maintain a healthy bacteria colony in the live rock.
Calculating remaining Vinegar
- Thread starter Walla2GSP
- Start date
The vinegar is converted to acetate when it dissolves:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm#6
Bacteria are perfectly happy consuming the acetate, so the end result is the same whether there's crushed coral present or not.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.htm#6
Bacteria are perfectly happy consuming the acetate, so the end result is the same whether there's crushed coral present or not.
