mixing vinegar with 2 part alk solution

ReefsandGeeks

New member
I'm curious if it's safe, or smart, to mix my daily vinegar dose with my daily alkalinity dose in an effort to stretch out the impact of the rise in pH over a few hours rather than a sudden drop or rise from adding the alk and vinegar separately. When I add the alk, I get a white cloud which does create a little bit of particulate particles looking like snow at the time of dosing, but they seem to get broken up when they hit the higher flow from the power head. I'm just not sure if the apparent precipitate right when the alk is dosed is dissolving when it hits the flow, or just being broken up into particles that are too small to see.

I would like to continue using the recipe #1 for the 2 part which increases the pH, but would like to stretch out the pH effect over time if possible. If I mix the vinegar with the alk solution prior to dosing into my tank, the white cloud is substantially less. I assume the vinegar reacts with the alkalinity and then later releases as the result is metabolized by bacteria, which would increase pH more slowly over time. But I'm no chemist, so not sure if I'm really thinking about this in the right way. I don't want to do something that's going to end up screwing up my dosing for the 2 part.
 
The precipitate probably is mostly magnesium hydroxide:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/index.htm#6

It redissolves. Some people do report issues with precipitation of calcium carbonate, though, and that won't redissolve. I don't think adding vinegar is worth the effort unless you want to dose organic carbon, but it won't hurt as long as the dilution is computed properly. :)
 
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