Randy's vinegar dosing limit. I found it!
- Thread starter Randy Holmes-Farley
- Start date
Do you guys have experience using chaeto and vinegar dosing? I had to recycle my whole tank due to some unwanted pests so I'm kind of started over. Since the tank was coming back to life I didn't want to use a carbon source. I started off with some chaeto that is now filling the entire fuge. My nitrates are still above 2 and I know from past experience I can get it lower with vinegar. Do you think if I dosed a much lower amount I'd be able to save the chaeto and reduce nitrates? I know Randy uses vinegar and chaeto, but thats about all I know.
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The Chaetomorpha might die back or disappear with carbon dosing. That's hard to predict, but if you go slowly, you probably will be able to see what's happening well before the Chaetomorpha dies back entirely. Different tanks seem to respond very differently to carbon dosing, which isn't very surprising. Our tanks get vast different feeding regimes and have a wide range of animals.
I'm just kind of on the fence about how I should lower my nitrates and phosphates. I've had good experience with vinegar dosing. I don't normally start with a low dose, I throw an oz of vinegar in and go from there. I get results much faster and its pretty easy to tell if I'm over dosing. It's just the tank is so new now I don't want to mess up the normal cycle adding a carbon source. I also don't want to kill a big ball of chaeto
So I guess another question is, how long after starting a tank do you think it would be safe to carbon dose?
So I guess another question is, how long after starting a tank do you think it would be safe to carbon dose?
gentledental4u
Member
Any updates?
As I recall, some discoloration is normal. Is the tubing clogging? You could try running a bit of bleach through a small piece of the tubing, if there's enough spare to allow cutting a sample, to see whether the buildup is organic. I'd discard the piece of tubing afterward.
I cut a piece of the stained tubing and the white is permanent, it does not come out, does not seem to be organic buildup. The staining is almost immediate, let's say after a couple of hours of constant contact with the vinegar.
My guess is that the acid is breaking down the plastic, but the effect might take a long time to be a problem. There are various kinds of tubing available from lab suppliers like Cole-Parmer, if you want to look into something that will be more resistant. I can't guess how long it might take for the plastic to become brittle enough to break. Breakage should be the only danger in this situation.
I'm currently dosing about 20ml of vinegar daily (distributed in many small doses during daylight period using dosing pump) to my 20 gallon tank (with 5 gallon sump). I was previously dosing NOPOX, then DIY NOPOX (vodka + vinegar mix) and switched to vinegar about 4 months ago in order to use the dosing pump.
The thing is that I'm not being able to find the balance. Here are my parameters:
Phosphate: 0.02ppm (Hanna ULR Phosphorus Checker)
Nitrate: 5+ ppm
KH: 8.2 dKH
Algae seems to be very controlled, still some growing on the back glass, overflow box, return nozzle and some little on rock. Mostly taken care by a sea urchin.
Issues:
1. Getting cyanobacteria on sandbed and glass.
2. KH Related: I have noticed that if I let it raise above 9.5 - 10 dKH, then my SPS coral, specially Mystic Sunset does not like it. It starts to burn or die (white spots). A little birds nest frag died. Once I get the KH back down to 8.2, most SPS recovers. Montipora Capricornis is also affected, but not as much as the Mystic Sunset and birds nest.
3. Overall, coral are not growing. Some LPS are even shrinking a bit.
I feed every other day some little bit of Reef Roids and once a week a couple cc of Red Sea Reef Energy A & B mix. Also, I have Kalkwasser in my ATO water. pH is monitored constantly via Apex.
Any thoughts?
The thing is that I'm not being able to find the balance. Here are my parameters:
Phosphate: 0.02ppm (Hanna ULR Phosphorus Checker)
Nitrate: 5+ ppm
KH: 8.2 dKH
Algae seems to be very controlled, still some growing on the back glass, overflow box, return nozzle and some little on rock. Mostly taken care by a sea urchin.
Issues:
1. Getting cyanobacteria on sandbed and glass.
2. KH Related: I have noticed that if I let it raise above 9.5 - 10 dKH, then my SPS coral, specially Mystic Sunset does not like it. It starts to burn or die (white spots). A little birds nest frag died. Once I get the KH back down to 8.2, most SPS recovers. Montipora Capricornis is also affected, but not as much as the Mystic Sunset and birds nest.
3. Overall, coral are not growing. Some LPS are even shrinking a bit.
I feed every other day some little bit of Reef Roids and once a week a couple cc of Red Sea Reef Energy A & B mix. Also, I have Kalkwasser in my ATO water. pH is monitored constantly via Apex.
Any thoughts?
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Hi Jonathan,
I don't think there is too much food, because I have cut it down a lot in the last month or even longer. I'm feeding the fish very little and only once a day. And as I mentioned before, very little (less than 1/4 teaspoon) of Reef Roids every other day.
The tank has 2 small clowns, 1 midas blenny, 1 red blood shrimp. And many coral: LPS, SPS, zoas, etc.
I don't think there is too much food, because I have cut it down a lot in the last month or even longer. I'm feeding the fish very little and only once a day. And as I mentioned before, very little (less than 1/4 teaspoon) of Reef Roids every other day.
The tank has 2 small clowns, 1 midas blenny, 1 red blood shrimp. And many coral: LPS, SPS, zoas, etc.
