Randy's vinegar dosing limit. I found it!
- Thread starter Randy Holmes-Farley
- Start date
It is primarily to reduce the pH impact when first added and especially if added obnce a day manually.
I currently dose vinegar without lime using a dosing pump, although I have done it with lime in the past.
The amount of calcium and alkalinity added is fairly low, but perhaps useful for some folks. It is much lower than in the limewater you'd get with top off.
I currently dose vinegar without lime using a dosing pump, although I have done it with lime in the past.
The amount of calcium and alkalinity added is fairly low, but perhaps useful for some folks. It is much lower than in the limewater you'd get with top off.
Thanks Randy- I think I'll just keep with my daily doings of 24x a day. In your opinion, better to dose during daylight hours or constant food source for bacteria? I use to manually dose during daytime, but I added the t-02 doser from bm and that doesn't allow me to dose only during daylight hours-
I dose during the day to keep the O2 and pH effects lower.
There's no need for bacteria to eat 24 h a day.
But 24/7 is probably fine too if it is spread out.
There's no need for bacteria to eat 24 h a day.
But 24/7 is probably fine too if it is spread out.
tntneon
SPSahollic
Hi Randy ,
I'm building a new 154 g system and i bought a 3 channel dosing pump , to dose CA (1) , Alk (2) and i'm gonna try to dose vinegar with the third channel.
But on my nano i had only two channels and when i mixed my Ca additif with vinegar i whitnessed (after a coupple of weeks) black slimy strings in my Ca / vinegar container , even blocking the dosing pump...
Did anyone whitnessed the same effect , does it occur when only dosing vinegar with a designated pump / channel ?
greetingzz tntneon
,I'm building a new 154 g system and i bought a 3 channel dosing pump , to dose CA (1) , Alk (2) and i'm gonna try to dose vinegar with the third channel.
But on my nano i had only two channels and when i mixed my Ca additif with vinegar i whitnessed (after a coupple of weeks) black slimy strings in my Ca / vinegar container , even blocking the dosing pump...
Did anyone whitnessed the same effect , does it occur when only dosing vinegar with a designated pump / channel ?
greetingzz tntneon
I would not store reservoirs of diluted vodka or vinegar for that reason: bacteria will consume it and grow in the holding reservoir.
Limewater is different because the high pH stops bacterial growth. But a calcium supplement may not. FWIW, I dose vinegar straight from the gallon jug it comes in. There is no concern with bacteria growing in that because the pH is too low for growth.
Limewater is different because the high pH stops bacterial growth. But a calcium supplement may not. FWIW, I dose vinegar straight from the gallon jug it comes in. There is no concern with bacteria growing in that because the pH is too low for growth.
tntneon
SPSahollic
Thx Randy ,
-That explanes it very clearly :thumbsup: .
Will dose it directly out of the bottle (1 L ) with my BM-T01 dosing pump , hopefully i can dose it only in the daytime (see kenith's post).
But i don't think it would be such a big problem as i'm now still using BP's in my nano , and that is also an 24/7 carbon dose i would guess.
greetingzz tntneon
,-That explanes it very clearly :thumbsup: .
Will dose it directly out of the bottle (1 L ) with my BM-T01 dosing pump , hopefully i can dose it only in the daytime (see kenith's post).
But i don't think it would be such a big problem as i'm now still using BP's in my nano , and that is also an 24/7 carbon dose i would guess.
greetingzz tntneon
I'd suggest vinegar, but both can work.
:thumbsup:
Happy Reefing.
Happy Reefing.
funny718
New member
I'd suggest vinegar, but both can work.
hey randy I forgot to ask, which would be better white vinegar or red and is there a preferred brand?
I recommend cheap distilled white vinegar.
The amount of calcium and alkalinity added is fairly low, but perhaps useful for some folks. It is much lower than in the limewater you'd get with top off.
Hi Randy, I didnt quite understand you. Are you saying that the amount of Ca and alk ions in Kalk with vinager is lower than in Kalk without vinegar?
I thought that one of the purpouses of adding vinager to Kalk was to increase its Ca and alk potency?
I'm asking because I currently I have a problem where I want to use only Kalk to maintain the Ca and Alk levels but my evaporation is not enough and I have to increase the Kalk potency. I've been trying to do so by adding vinager, but no matter if its 5,10,or 25 ml of vinager per topoff liter I still see the same drop in level everyweek.
Thanks
No, I'm talking about straight vinegar saturated with calcium hydroxide. That solution added to an aquarium will add a lot less calcium and alkalinity than using a normal limewater solution for evaporation replacement, because the amount added is so much less.
You may need to use a two part in addition to the limewater, if you cannot get enough alkalinity and calcium from it, even with added vinegar and using 3 teaspoons lime per gallon.
You may need to use a two part in addition to the limewater, if you cannot get enough alkalinity and calcium from it, even with added vinegar and using 3 teaspoons lime per gallon.
Are you adding more lime into the solution?
Vinegar alone won't change the potency.
Vinegar alone won't change the potency.
tbs means tablespoon to you?
That's a lot of vinegar. More than I'd want to add to my tank, unless your evaporation is quite low.
I'd look into getting or making a two part to make up the shortfall.
That's a lot of vinegar. More than I'd want to add to my tank, unless your evaporation is quite low.
I'd look into getting or making a two part to make up the shortfall.
