Randy's vinegar dosing limit. I found it!

[swk]

Yes to tracking nutrients. They have dropped but have not hit zero on the Red Sea pro test kits. But nitrate is around 2 and po4 is .02 and I don't have much desire to drop much lower.

Dosing was begun to help handle cyano and high nitrates which started around 15-20 ppm

 

[swk]

Also, corals have lost much color and have turned very brown with te last 2 dose increases over the last month. I have attributed some of my issues to messing with my alk, dropping from mid 9's to low 7s but wonder if the vinegar is playing a part as well.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would not keep raising it at those levels. I might even begin to taper back if it stays at those levels or goes lower.

 

[tmz]

FWIW, the max level I've used in my system is about .6ml per gallon( a combination of vodka and vinegar which equals .56ml of vinegar in carbon content). Beyond that and I see what I consider excessive bacterial mass in places I don't like it. However, every tank is a bit different.
I personally would not drop nutrients any lower.

 

[swk]

Thanks you guys. I'm having some quickly browning sps pieces since the last dose increased as I've mentioned. This has been accompanied by a marked reduction in polyp extension couple with an extremely active mesenterial filament response when the tank is fed

 

[the meadows]

Can you stop dosing vinegar cold turkey or do you need to gradually stop over a period of time? What would or does happen when you stop dosing? Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think you can stop cold turkey, but if the bacteria die off over a week or two you might see a rise in nutrients.

 

[AcroSteph]

Randy,

Is there a massive difference in the dosing amounts that I should be aware of between 5% and 7% vinegar?

I'm horrible with math when it comes to conversions of mL, Gallons and %'s.. :fun5:

I was hoping I could stick pretty close to the numbers on this chart for dosing..

My system is between the 200 and 250G range (I'd say 225G total volume) and I've been dosing 7% at the 200G recommended doses (6ml and 12ml for the respective week1 time frames).

Thanks

 

[bertoni]

To match the chart, you would need to dose about 30% less of the 7% vinegar. Using the 150g amount instead of the 200g amount would be close enough, IMO.

 

[Ryan2428]

I suck at math wish 75 gallon was on there lol. But wait for my smart 16 year old daughter to figure it out for me lol

 

[swk]

So I am down to 29 ml a day from 56. Nutrients are still VERY low. Nitrate is .25 and po4 is .02

Slight increase in algae growth is the only side effect of dropping the dose that could be considered a negative. Otherwise, corals have begun to color back up and the more fragile ones are goners I believe, but I consider it a lesson learned.

 

[bertoni]

That sounds like good progress!

 

[swk]

Oh btw - I also pulled all gfo to see if it's really needed. Before I started vinegar dosing it was
.04-.06 or so. Thinking it may be redundant at this point, but I figure I should know in a week. I figure why use it if po4 stays at .06 or under without it?

Seem reasonable?

 

[bertoni]

I might back off slowly, rather than make a big change, but either approach seems reasonable to try.

 

[swk]

I might back off slowly, rather than make a big change, but either approach seems reasonable to try.

My logic in just pulling it was that po4 was low, under .06 before carbon dosing, usually around .04 and this was also before using GFO.

I'll test midweek as I just did a small water change and pulled the gfo on Saturday. I'll report back.

In the forums opinion, how high is high enough to justify going back to gfo? Tank is sps based if that makes a difference

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

While I never measure phosphate, and use GFO as one of many phosphate export methods, I'd personally use GFO if phosphate rose above 0.03 ppm.

 

[swk]

Thanks again fellas

 

[swk]

Happy to report that po4 has not risen much since the removal of gfo.

However on a side note, since I have begun dropping the vinegar dose in an effort to increase nutrients in my tank, this has started growing on the back wall of my tank. I'm freaking out that it's Dino's. What do you guys think?

View attachment 285609View attachment 285611

Note the closed zoa polyp in the front. Here's a pic that is not mine that looks similar to what I'm experiencing, minus any air bubbles. On the thread this pic came from, they concluded some sort of diatoms. This tank is fairly young, as it was a transfer
from a 40 gal

View attachment 285612

Thanks guys

 

[bertoni]

I don't think that diatoms form stringy masses like that. I would guess something else, but there's a lot of possibilities. Dinoflagellates is a reasonable guess.

 

[swk]

I don't think that diatoms form stringy masses like that. I would guess something else, but there's a lot of possibilities. Dinoflagellates is a reasonable guess.

Didn't sound right to me either. Wishful thinking perhaps....

Hoping it's nothing major and just a phase for the tank. I upped the vinegar dose by 5 ml and will monitor closely and see how things go for the next week.