NO3:PO4-x conversion to vinegar

I am using diy NOPOX and an algae turf scrubber and no longer need gfo. Nitrates are steady around 3 ppm. I added some phosphate remover about 4 months ago and dropped phosphate too low causing some coral bleaching. If I use a phosphate remover again I will be much more careful. I am planning on having some seachem flourish on hand in case I need to raise phosphate.
 
I'm strongly considering switching over to this recipe from my current carbon source of Aquaforest -NP Pro which I'm somewhat lukewarm on at the moment. I had a problem with my dosing pump so I'm essentially restarting the carbon dosing process.

My current params on my 60 gallon tank:
NO3: 50ppm
PO4: .049ppm

A couple questions:
1. While ramping up my dose over a period of several weeks should I keep the concentration the same or start with more vinegar than vodka and slowly transition to this mix? I will be using 80 proof vodka and 5% vinegar.

2. It sounds like simple airline is okay and I don't need to use silicone or other tubing. Do I need to change the internal tubing on my BRS container more often?

3. I plan on starting with 0.5mL/25 gallons (1.2mL for the 60 gallon) of this solution and increasing by 0.5mL/25 gallons every 10 days...does this sound reasonable?

4. I'm also probably going to mix a 10 day or so supply every week and add that to a simple plastic dosing container. That way hopefully it will alleviate any major overdose concerns and ethanol evap, etc. I could also keep the open bottle of 80 proof vodka in the freezer to hopefully minimize evap over time as I don't think I will go through it very quickly.

All thoughts are welcome as I've never followed through with vodka/vinegar dosing!
 
1, 3. If you've stopped the carbo process for a few days or more, I'd just start over on the dosing. The guidelines for vinegar or vodka dosing both are likely close enough.

2. I suspect the tubing will be fine. What type do you have, and what were you dosing before?

4. A 10-day supply should be fine. In fact, you should be able to mix up a multi-month supply or more if you keep it in a closed container and don't open it more than once a week or so.
 
bertoni said:
1, 3. If you've stopped the carbo process for a few days or more, I'd just start over on the dosing. The guidelines for vinegar or vodka dosing both are likely close enough.

2. I suspect the tubing will be fine. What type do you have, and what were you dosing before?

4. A 10-day supply should be fine. In fact, you should be able to mix up a multi-month supply or more if you keep it in a closed container and don't open it more than once a week or so.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. I guess I was mostly concerned that it will be a gentle enough ramp up.

I am using both the silicone and airline tubing that came with the BRS doser. I can certainly switch if need be.

Should be fun to move ahead and get these nitrates down.
 
bertoni said:
1, 3. If you've stopped the carbo process for a few days or more, I'd just start over on the dosing. The guidelines for vinegar or vodka dosing both are likely close enough.

2. I suspect the tubing will be fine. What type do you have, and what were you dosing before?

4. A 10-day supply should be fine. In fact, you should be able to mix up a multi-month supply or more if you keep it in a closed container and don't open it more than once a week or so.
Click to expand...
I forgot to clarify this part but do you think the 0.5mL/25 gallons daily for 10 days is a good starting point? It sounds like the nopox instructions are fairly aggressive so I'm guessing it won't be a problem.
 
I think that should be fine. All of the dosing guidelines that I mentioned are very conservative in the first place. :)
 
Sorry to revive old post and its a great one but I'm having problems with the calcs...
I'm wanting to convert from NoPox to TMZ's recipe. I have the spreadsheet and read the whole thread.
Here in Australia our vinegar is 4.2% strength, so I assume I need about 19% more vinegar (ie 690ml+19% = 821ml). Do I leave the vodka at 310ml? Ratio doesn't seem right???
Also, I'm currently dosing 3ml of NoPox into 225L water (59.5gal). What dose would I start at and what am I aiming for to get equivalent to NoPox? (Don't follow the carbon calcs :( )
Thanks for any help
 
This thread is fairly long, so I'm not sure where TMZ's recipe is, or exactly what it is. Judging from page 10, he's using approximately vinegar and vodka in about a 2:1 ratio, which is the standard DIY NOPoX recipe, more or less. That should be very close to NOPoX, in any case. I'd just start at 3 ml, and watch carefully. If you're using some other recipe, please let me know!

Adding 19% more vinegar should be okay. In theory, you need to scale up the dose, but in practice, I'd just ignore the difference. Mark it off to caution. :)
 
bertoni said:
This thread is fairly long, so I'm not sure where TMZ's recipe is, or exactly what it is. Judging from page 10, he's using approximately vinegar and vodka in about a 2:1 ratio, which is the standard DIY NOPoX recipe, more or less. That should be very close to NOPoX, in any case. I'd just start at 3 ml, and watch carefully. If you're using some other recipe, please let me know!

Adding 19% more vinegar should be okay. In theory, you need to scale up the dose, but in practice, I'd just ignore the difference. Mark it off to caution. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks. By recipe I meant the calc spreadsheet and basically Tom's ratio 690ml vinegar:310ml vodka.
So for the above I'll just increase the vinegar by 19% to 821ml vinegar:310ml vodka.

If I start at 3ml how much do I go up by and what final value am I looking at? Still not sure what final ml value I should be aiming for... :hmm3:
 
I'd try 25% per week or so, if the tank seems to need more organic carbon. I'd drop the dose back if I saw any signs of a bacterial bloom (cloudy water, slimy masses on surfaces). There's no way to predict how much carbon a tank will need.
 
I'm almost out of nopox. in reading the thread, it looks like 690 ml of vinegar to 310 ml of vodka.

What would be the starting dose if I'm dosing 15ml of nopox daily?
 
I'd start at 1:1. That'll be very close. This is the recipe for a more precise match:

To make a DIY version of Red Sea NO3:PO4-X, mix:
375 ml 80 proof vodka
500 ml vinegar (5% acetic acid)
125 ml RO/DI water
Click to expand...
 
bertoni said:
I'd try 25% per week or so, if the tank seems to need more organic carbon. I'd drop the dose back if I saw any signs of a bacterial bloom (cloudy water, slimy masses on surfaces). There's no way to predict how much carbon a tank will need.
Click to expand...

Just wondering whether anyone has tried calculating the amount of carbon needed for aquarium carbon dosing?
 
That's an interesting question. I am guessing that you mean the amount of organic carbon needed per units of nitrogen or phosphorus removed?
 
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