:thumbsup:
I still think it a fine plan, especially with manual dosing.
I still think it a fine plan, especially with manual dosing.
vinegar dosing
- Thread starter biecacka
- Start date
No, I meant only that if you are manual dosing, the lime idea has especially good merits. For slow dosing, I doubt it matters much, but it will help deliver some calcium and alkalinity and help boost pH a bit if you use the lime.
biecacka
Active member
so randy, i have a 5 gallon jug that i use to drip kalk into my sump. are you saying that i can add vinegar and it will work fine, in fact maybe better than the current set up. the lime will disolve more in the vinegar/water mix correct. then i will also get the advantage of dosing vinegar to help with the algea issues im having?
corey
corey
It may or may not help with algae, but it is an OK way to dose vinegar. My concern is that folks usually dose limewater at night or 24/7, and when you add vinegar, you necessarily use up some O2, so night isn't the best time for it. Whether that is important or not may depend on how well aerated the tank otherwise is at night.
How much calcium and alk is added with fully concentrated vinegar? I only dose 20 ml a day so I guess its not that much.
I put about 2 cups of lime into a gallon of vinegar, I would guess about half of that dissoved, maybe less. Does that sound about right to you? How much did you mix in? I was planning on just adding more vinegar to the jug as needed until the rest disolved.
I put about 2 cups of lime into a gallon of vinegar, I would guess about half of that dissoved, maybe less. Does that sound about right to you? How much did you mix in? I was planning on just adding more vinegar to the jug as needed until the rest disolved.
I think you can probably dissolve about 20 grams (about 4 level teaspoons) of calcium hydroxide in a liter of vinegar. I always added an excess and let it sit on the bottom. You want an excess to ensure the pH is high, or bacteria will rapidly grow in it.
Yes, it is OK to dose lime in vinegar, and OK to dose limewater alone, and OK to dose vinegar alone. All are perfectly fine. My only thought limitation is that dosing vinegar during the night in any way may be suboptimal, although I've seen no experimental evidence of the O2 drop that likely happens.
Just to throw in my .02... I wouldn't think there would be an issue if running a reverse photperiod fuge. Not sure if that's the case, but thought I'd mention it as they seem to be pretty common these days.
Yes, those can help, and is how I light mine. Eric measured O2 in many systems here:
The Need to Breathe, Part 3: Real Tanks and Real Importance
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-08/eb/index.php
The Need to Breathe, Part 3: Real Tanks and Real Importance
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-08/eb/index.php
biecacka
Active member
ok so randy if you were to "suggest" to someone 
the method that you would choose which would it be. with lime or directly into tank. i think i read that 0.1ML of vodka per gallon is target number to start and since its vinegar to multiply that by 8. so for me it comes out to about 22ML per day......one dose or 2 doses or drip? do those numbers sound about right to you? i really like the idea of getting more lime saturation but my main goal is to defeat my high nitrates which seem to be causing a small algea outbreak in my tank
corey
the method that you would choose which would it be. with lime or directly into tank. i think i read that 0.1ML of vodka per gallon is target number to start and since its vinegar to multiply that by 8. so for me it comes out to about 22ML per day......one dose or 2 doses or drip? do those numbers sound about right to you? i really like the idea of getting more lime saturation but my main goal is to defeat my high nitrates which seem to be causing a small algea outbreak in my tankcorey
How were you going to dose it?
Manually or automatically with a pump?
Manually or automatically with a pump?
surfjeepzx
New member
I just switched from Vodka to Vinegar and so far the results are positive. I had a phosphate issue that GFO alone couldn't handle. If I ramped up GFO use in frequency and qty I would get bleaching issues with some corals and coralline. It also gave many of my corals an overall paleness when in use.
I switched gears and went to vodka dosing. Started slow and minimal per the instructions and started seeing results after a couple weeks. Kept dosing and ramping up the qty until I started seeing green Cyano appearing on the sand and some rocks.
The tipping point was when I went on vacation for a week and had a neighbor continuing the regimine. Whoops!!. Maybe a good thing in that aside from the green sand and rocks the corals looked really good and were coloring up nicely.
So I went to a 4 day lights out with just a tease of actinics in the morning. By day 4 most of the cyano was fading but there were still areas where it was remaining.
On day 5 I dumped my Kalk bucket and cleaned it up. Added new water and 3 tsp's of pickling lime per gallon. To this I added 40 ml of vinegar per gallon. I also changed out the GAC with a fresh batch. It's been 4 days now and each morning the lights come on there is less cyano coloration and the corals are continuing to color up.
I drip the mix 24/7 as I always do. I've been measuring Alk/Ca each day and I have noticed the levels are much more stable than without the vinegar. I will stay at this level until everything is back to normal and then see what the corals tell me. I think if all is well I may keep dosing but at a lesser saturation level for maintenance.
I switched gears and went to vodka dosing. Started slow and minimal per the instructions and started seeing results after a couple weeks. Kept dosing and ramping up the qty until I started seeing green Cyano appearing on the sand and some rocks.
The tipping point was when I went on vacation for a week and had a neighbor continuing the regimine. Whoops!!. Maybe a good thing in that aside from the green sand and rocks the corals looked really good and were coloring up nicely.
So I went to a 4 day lights out with just a tease of actinics in the morning. By day 4 most of the cyano was fading but there were still areas where it was remaining.
On day 5 I dumped my Kalk bucket and cleaned it up. Added new water and 3 tsp's of pickling lime per gallon. To this I added 40 ml of vinegar per gallon. I also changed out the GAC with a fresh batch. It's been 4 days now and each morning the lights come on there is less cyano coloration and the corals are continuing to color up.
I drip the mix 24/7 as I always do. I've been measuring Alk/Ca each day and I have noticed the levels are much more stable than without the vinegar. I will stay at this level until everything is back to normal and then see what the corals tell me. I think if all is well I may keep dosing but at a lesser saturation level for maintenance.
I don't think it matters enough to worry about the decision. If you have adequate calcium and alkalinity and pH control from other means, then pick either one. If you want to get some extra of all of these, then pick lime in the vinegar.
I think spread daytime dosing makes perfect sense in terms of limiting nightime hypoxia.
I've been doing it a bit differently with bolus dosing as it has become my routine and works well enough that I'm hesitant to change it.
I dose about 20% of the total organic carbon at night a few hours after lights out and the pm feeding as a bolus dose. The other 80% is bolus dosed a few hours after lights on, just before am feeding.
Morning PO4 readings done daily before dosing or feeding ( compulsive testing I know) are lower with the split dose in my system.Maybe this is because I do a second (lighter than the am fish and coral feeding) just before lights out.
To hedge against potential night time hypoxia, I also employ 24/7 limewater dosing,CO2 scrubbers on the skimmers and reverse photo period chaeto refugia which I think is of is of marginal value in adding O2 given the relatively slow to no growth I get at low PO4.
I've been doing it a bit differently with bolus dosing as it has become my routine and works well enough that I'm hesitant to change it.
I dose about 20% of the total organic carbon at night a few hours after lights out and the pm feeding as a bolus dose. The other 80% is bolus dosed a few hours after lights on, just before am feeding.
Morning PO4 readings done daily before dosing or feeding ( compulsive testing I know) are lower with the split dose in my system.Maybe this is because I do a second (lighter than the am fish and coral feeding) just before lights out.
To hedge against potential night time hypoxia, I also employ 24/7 limewater dosing,CO2 scrubbers on the skimmers and reverse photo period chaeto refugia which I think is of is of marginal value in adding O2 given the relatively slow to no growth I get at low PO4.
