Vinegar dosing and pH

[DrDNA]

Hi,

For those of who use vinegar for carbon dosing, how much does it depress your pH? I'm trying out the nopox homebrew (mixture of vodka and vinegar) but it drops my pH to like 7.6 at night.

Any way to still use the acetate ion as a carbon source with depressing pH as much as you do with vinegar? I know vinegar is acidic because of the acetate ion is in equilibrium with the H+ protons as a weak acid....

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[reefgeezer]

I used to dose up to 20 ml twice a day in the inlet of my 20 gallon sump with a 1.1 ml per minute dosing pump. It never changed the pH of the water returning to the DT. IMO, any pH drop should be momentary. If you are seeing depressed pH, it is probably because of something else. It isn't unusual for pH to drop at night. While on the low end of the range, 7.6 isn't unusual.

 

[lpsouth1978]

I just split up my daily dose throughout the day. I set my doser to split the dosage into 8 equal doses. This helps minimize the effect on pH and has worked well for me.

 

[Daddi0]

I add vinegar to my Kalkwasser and the mixture raises my PH
Cheers! Mark

 

[DrDNA]

Thanks. I do add a few cc's every hour using a BRS dosing pump. Total system is around 800g and I'm adding 75ml per 24 hours.

I could set it so it doesn't add any in the middle of the night

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[Uncle99]

Thanks. I do add a few cc's every hour using a BRS dosing pump. Total system is around 800g and I'm adding 75ml per 24 hours.

I could set it so it doesn't add any in the middle of the night

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Yes, I don't dose carbon at night, spread out evenly when lights are on...even better is to light the fuge at night in addition.

 

[Genetics]

How is your alkalinity? Do you have enough turn over in your aquarium? A pH of 7.6 leads me to believe that you could possibly improve your system by other means.

 

[MabuyaQ]

Hi,

For those of who use vinegar for carbon dosing, how much does it depress your pH? I'm trying out the nopox homebrew (mixture of vodka and vinegar) but it drops my pH to like 7.6 at night.

Any way to still use the acetate ion as a carbon source with depressing pH as much as you do with vinegar? I know vinegar is acidic because of the acetate ion is in equilibrium with the H+ protons as a weak acid....

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What did it drop to before dosing acetate and how large is this drop?

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[Jonesrd1]

I add 18 gm of kalk to 500 ml of 5% acetic acid. The resultant calcium acetate raises my pH by 0.2 pH units. I add 60 mL per ~50 gallons of system water all at once first thing in the morning . Seems to work quite well for me. Ron