NO3:PO4-x conversion to vinegar
- Thread starter llandegfedd
- Start date
jason2459
Well-known member
You have room to move up the dosage if needed but if nitrates are reducing I'd stay there until they either stop moving down or just stay at that dosage if they get to where you want them.
I'm dosing ~40ml of the 690/310 mix. 6x/day 6minutes each time on a 1.1ml/m pump. I have not validated the rate of that pump so it could be more or less. I've seen many say it's more. This is with ~200 gallon total volume. I feed a LOT and this is maintaining under 2 nitrates and under .04 phosphates along with my ATS and skimmer.
The 13ml vodka/30ml vinegar is about the same as I dose : 38ml vodka/80ml vinegar for 650 gallons. (I haven't gone much higher over the years without stringy bacteria etc. )in a heavily fed system to maintain NO3 at <.0.2ppm an PO4 around 0.02 to 0.04ppm.
Excellent Corey. I knew you would get there, it just takes time and patience. Not sure how to read that color but it seems like 25. You can read "top down" for a number or "through the side" and then divide by 10. Through the side seems easier once you get below 50 or so.
My vote would be to leave the dose alone. Maybe dose yourself with vodka or beer in celebration.
-droog
My vote would be to leave the dose alone. Maybe dose yourself with vodka or beer in celebration.
-droog
Hi,
Wow!!!! A huge thank you to all that chimed in to make this a very useful thread.
Just to clarify my thoughts RO/DI is only added when the Vinegar or Ethanol is of higher concentrations than what the standard person can get their hands on ie 5% Vinegar and 80 Proof (40%) Vodka.
Just a few questions?
Is automation still possible via a doser at the above concentrations of the Vodka and Vinegar? Is this fine with the piping that is supplied with the doser? If pipes have to be changed, what do I change them out with?
I know stability is key but is there any detrimental effect to missing a dose or 2 , apart from climbing PO4 and NO3, if one is not around and just pick up where they left off if automation is not a viable solution?
Thanks
Wow!!!! A huge thank you to all that chimed in to make this a very useful thread.
Just to clarify my thoughts RO/DI is only added when the Vinegar or Ethanol is of higher concentrations than what the standard person can get their hands on ie 5% Vinegar and 80 Proof (40%) Vodka.
Just a few questions?
Is automation still possible via a doser at the above concentrations of the Vodka and Vinegar? Is this fine with the piping that is supplied with the doser? If pipes have to be changed, what do I change them out with?
I know stability is key but is there any detrimental effect to missing a dose or 2 , apart from climbing PO4 and NO3, if one is not around and just pick up where they left off if automation is not a viable solution?
Thanks
Mohammed,
You are welcome.
I bolus dose manually twice per day;don't know how much dilution you can do without allowing bacteria to grow in the solution. For 80 proof vodka a 50% dilution should be ok given the 40 proof vodka in stores that doesn't spoil.
I don't think the vinegar can be diluted very much without moving the pH into a tolerable range for bacteria.
I've never missed more than a half day of dosing in the last 6 years and just continue on the schedule without making up a rare missed dose with out much trouble other than a temporary bump in PO4 . The heterotrophic bacteria are thought to split about every 12 hours . I don't know how long they can survive without the organic carbon dose. I did start vinegar dosing about 8 years ago and stopped after a few months ;the only effect I noted during that hiatus was a burst in nuisance algae.
You are welcome.
I bolus dose manually twice per day;don't know how much dilution you can do without allowing bacteria to grow in the solution. For 80 proof vodka a 50% dilution should be ok given the 40 proof vodka in stores that doesn't spoil.
I don't think the vinegar can be diluted very much without moving the pH into a tolerable range for bacteria.
I've never missed more than a half day of dosing in the last 6 years and just continue on the schedule without making up a rare missed dose with out much trouble other than a temporary bump in PO4 . The heterotrophic bacteria are thought to split about every 12 hours . I don't know how long they can survive without the organic carbon dose. I did start vinegar dosing about 8 years ago and stopped after a few months ;the only effect I noted during that hiatus was a burst in nuisance algae.
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Ok perfect, my thoughts where to combine the both and dilute to an acceptable ratio to prevent deterioration of the dosing pipes but since Jason has confirmed its a non issue I will just dial in a doser once a maintenance dose has been reached without dilution.
Thanks again for the clarification.
Thanks again for the clarification.
CC WaterGuy
New member
OK, Thank You guys for this awesome thread and all the research you have put into this!
I have a 110 gal tank with 2 sumps with about 15 gallons in each. I have a little over 100 lbs live Rock. So that is 140 gallons minus 30% for the rock is about 100 gallons. My nitrates run over 80 with my API test kit.
I made a mix of 40% vodka (80 proof) and 60% vinegar(5%). I'm calculating I should add 20 ml of this mix daily to start.
Does this sound correct?
Thanks.
I have a 110 gal tank with 2 sumps with about 15 gallons in each. I have a little over 100 lbs live Rock. So that is 140 gallons minus 30% for the rock is about 100 gallons. My nitrates run over 80 with my API test kit.
I made a mix of 40% vodka (80 proof) and 60% vinegar(5%). I'm calculating I should add 20 ml of this mix daily to start.
Does this sound correct?
Thanks.
So ; it's 20ml consisting of 8ml of 80 proof vodka and 12ml of 5% acetic acid vinegar? That's equivalent to about .76 ml of vinegar per gallon( 8ml vodka times 8 =64ml vinegar +12 =76 divided by 100= .76). That seems very high even as a maintenance dose. Most settle in at .3 to .7ml in terms of vinegar equivalents after amping up slowly over a period of weeks. FWIW my maintenance dose is around .6 for a heavily fed system.
CC WaterGuy
New member
I was mixing a liter at 60% vinegar, 40% vodka. If I switch to gallons that's 76.8oz vinegar and 51.2 vodka so yes that .76 is correct. Should I change my ratio or dose less?
