cyano bloom after vinegar dosing

[kevensquint]

Hello, a few weeks ago I tried dosing vinegar, I wanted to see if my film algae would be reduced by removing nitrates and phos. (my test kits read 0 , but my fish eat so there must be some). In a 75 gallons of water set-up, I added 5ml vinegar on one day, skipped a day and added 5ml more. A few days later cyano started to grow here and there
Is fighting algae with carbon dosing like exchanging one algae food source for another?

 

[Dre59]

I had the same issue and stoped using it... Just did some major WC and it went away.. But was a PITA to get rid of it.

 

[bertoni]

Tanks seem to vary a lot in how they react to carbon dosing. I might try a smaller dose or use some other method to fight algae. I think the usual starting dose for vinegar might be something like 1.5 ml per day, or so, but I never had the guts to try carbon dosing.

 

[kevensquint]

Ok, but just to clarify isn't carbon itself " fuel" for algae, as the nitrates we're trying to get rid of are?

 

[nanojg]

carbon is fuel for bacteria that consume the fuel for algae, cyano is a bacteria btw

 

[nanojg]

Are you skimming on the heavy side? That is the only way to go when carbon dosing.

 

[ivans75]

cyano is bacteria, dosing vinegar can kickstart cyano growth. But in time it will go away as the nutrient go lower and lower. You can help by vacuuming the cyano out of your tank.

 

[ivans75]

cyano is bacteria, dosing vinegar can kickstart cyano growth. But in time it will go away as the nutrient go lower and lower. You can help by vacuuming the cyano out of your tank.