Carbon dosing on a 20g long

[BigDaddyD1992]

Idk if this is the best place for this, but im wanting to try to dose vinegar to a 20g long this has been up and running for about 4 weeks and is done with the nitrogen cycle. The questions i have are what kind of vinegar do you guys use, any particular brand also? And how much do you start with and how to know when to increase the amount of vinegar. Also does this need to be done daily or can it be done weekly?(can do it daily, just curious though)Or of theres a good thread on here that covers these questions i have.

Corn Fed Iowa Bred

 

[thegrun]

There are some lengthy discussions on the subject in the chemistry forum. With a 20 gallon tank only 4 weeks old why are you resorting to carbon dosing so soon? What are your goals? For such a small tank water changes should be able to take care of nitrate/phosphate issues. That said, white vinegar is the vinegar of choice and since it takes more vinegar than say vodka it would be the best choice in a small tank for carbon dosing.

 

[dkeller_nc]

^ agreed.

There's really no reason to start carbon dosing on a tank so newly setup. In fact, it might be problematic. The chemistry of all reef tanks takes 3 or 4 months to truly settle down, and presumably, you're going to be stocking critters which changes the bioload and therefore water chemistry substantially during that period.

One thing to realize is that to use carbon dosing effectively, you absolutely must have an effective skimmer. If your 20L is drilled and configured with a sump, then you likely already have a good skimmer in it. If you're running with HOB (hang on back) equipment, very few nano-sized HOB skimmers are very efficient, though the Tunze DOCs are an exception.

Many that run nano tanks simply keep the stocking very light and perform water changes and use chemical filtration (carbon/GFO) to manage dissolved inorganic nutrients like nitrate and phosphate.

 

[BigDaddyD1992]

Ok nitrates aren't out of control or anything, just trying to make this as low maintenance as possible and i figured i would be more likely to dose a little vinegar each day then a water change. I dont have a problem doing water changes but im trying to make this one simple. Thanks for the advice, i dont currently have protein skimmer on this yet and only a clownfish and a couple of shrimp.

The tunze doc skimmer 9004 is the one ive really been considering, it has such good reviews and what i see to be a resonable price point.

Corn Fed Iowa Bred