Vodka, vinegar,biopellets and other organic carbon dosing

[Halfmoon61]

8-1 iirc

 

[tmz]

5% acetic acid vinegar( typical white vinegar is 95% water. 80 proof which is 40% ethanol vodka ) is only 60% water. The 8 :1 is the 40% ethanol to 5% acetic acid. It's an approximation . I don't know what typical vinegar in Canada is in tems of the of acetic acid content . There are some as low as 3%. Some vodka is 40 proof / 20 % ethanol. Check the labels of the product you are using .

 

[AhmedLFC]

Would you know what the symptoms of excessive carbon dosing are?

I dose vinegar:sugar fairly low dosage mix is (200ml 5% vinegar , 2 tea spoons raw unrefined sugar) dosing 6ml daily via 2 doses.

All seemed very well for 5 months but I am seeming to loose acros from the tips to a brown almost diatoms like clinging onto the sps. The acros seem to loose their flesh not all are effected just mainly the more delicate smoother skin species.

Wanted to eliminate carbon dosing overdose?

Any ideas appreciated

 

[tmz]

I'd stop the sugar. Even small amounts caused trouble for my corals,mostly for lps.

2tsps =10grams which equals approximately 200ml of vinegar btw. Sugar is dry while the vinegar is 95% water ;so 1 gram of it is equivalent to about 20ml of 5% acetic acid vinegar in terms of carbon content. So your 200ml mix with 10g of sugar is twice as strong as 5% vinegar. Your 6 ml daily dose is the equivalent of 12 ml of vinegar.

What is the water volume of the system?

The acro problem may be related or coincidental. Are water parameters parameters in line.

 

[AhmedLFC]

Water params are spot on its 250L (circa 55 gal)

I will drop the sugar element and stick to vinegar to see if it gives improvement

 

[carlosdeandrade]

Hi all, as usual this thread has kept me reading for ages. I was just wondering, here in South Africa, many of our vinegar products have preservatives like Sodium benzoate, will this have any effect on livestock?

 

[Jay_R]

Hi all, as usual this thread has kept me reading for ages. I was just wondering, here in South Africa, many of our vinegar products have preservatives like Sodium benzoate, will this have any effect on livestock?

Can't you just use Vodka... works a treat.

 

[carlosdeandrade]

You can. But prefer vinegar.

 

[tmz]

The benzoate is a bacteria static preservative. It stops bacterial from growing . Don't know how much effect it might have when diluted in the tank. With 5% acetic acid vinegar,the plain white vinegar we use here, the acid concentration is high enough to prevent bacteria without any bacteria static agent or bactericide.

 

[carlosdeandrade]

Okey dokey, thanks.

 

[jminick2]

Tom,

My SPS are growing very well however i'm not satisfied with colors they are slightly brown, as a side note I do not get much growth out of LPS at all. I do not have a low range Phosphate test just the hanna checker 713, I test nitrates with API and its always 0. I recently started running GFO due to some bubble algae that just came up. I have no noticeable algae anywhere else in my tank. I have been considering dosing vinegar, my question is should I wait and see if the GFO helps with the coloring since I never have any detectable nitrates? OR would it be safe to start adding vinegar to my ATO. I already put 9 tsp of ALK in there. (5g)

Also I have PH issues 7.6 at night 8.1 during the day.

Thanks in advance

 

[markalot]

Because vinegar can lower PH, even if a little bit, I think the first thing you should do is try and get the skimmer intake routed outside. I'd also blow a fan over the top of the tank even if you don't need it for temperature control.

Of course make sure your PH probe is calibrated and you actually have a PH issue first.

 

[tmz]

What is the PO4 level? The 713 is fine ; it's what I use.

As for the pH , it may be room air is high in CO2. How do you test the aquarium pH.

How much kalk does your ato dose at once ?

What's the Alk ,calcium and salinity?

Lighting?

 

[jminick2]

What is the PO4 level? The 713 is fine ; it's what I use.

As for the pH , it may be room air is high in CO2. How do you test the aquarium pH.

How much kalk does your ato dose at once ?

What's the Alk ,calcium and salinity?

Lighting?

713 says 0 obviously since there is bubble algae coming up there has to be some p04 right?

I have a Milwaukee PH probe. calibrated with Milwaukee 4 7 and 10 fluids

I'm not really sure how much kalk the ato doses at once whatever my evaporation rate is.... 9tsp in 5g..

alk stays at 8-8.5, Calc 420, salinity 1.025

2 250w MH / + a dual t5 fixture

 

[jminick2]

Because vinegar can lower PH, even if a little bit, I think the first thing you should do is try and get the skimmer intake routed outside. I'd also blow a fan over the top of the tank even if you don't need it for temperature control.

Of course make sure your PH probe is calibrated and you actually have a PH issue first.

I just ran the line from my skimmer and I already have a fan for my halides.
how do I ensure no pesticides from my city spraying enter my tank through this outside line

 

[shellsea]

I would contact the City and see if it "spraying" or fogging that they do. I believe that fogging will have an hour or two "hang time" and after that it is dissipates which is why it really is not that effective. Very short term benefits. If they actually spray it depends what they are spraying but again if you know when they are doing it you are usually safe an hour or two after it is applied. So you could shut down air line for a short period. Ask the city if they can get you on a notification program or at least let you know a time frame window or day when they will be in your neighborhood.

 

[markalot]

I just ran the line from my skimmer and I already have a fan for my halides.
how do I ensure no pesticides from my city spraying enter my tank through this outside line

Not sure on this one. We occasionally spray with bug spray and I've never thought about it (oops). Does your city spray regularly? Fans increasing evaporation might be all you need.

 

[jminick2]

Not sure on this one. We occasionally spray with bug spray and I've never thought about it (oops). Does your city spray regularly? Fans increasing evaporation might be all you need.

yea they just sprayed last night (of course the day I run an outside line) and I already have two fans for my MH.

 

[tmz]

713 says 0 obviously since there is bubble algae coming up there has to be some p04 right?

Not necessarily. Some algae is oligotrophic and does fine with low nutrients. Natural reefs have algae. All of it needs some PO4 but so do your corals.
True zero PO4 prevents the uptake of NO3 and other nitrogen sources



I'm not really sure how much kalk the ato doses at once whatever my evaporation rate is.... 9tsp in 5g..

That could be a problem if it doses stirred up cloudy water and/ or big batches at once. The dose should be limited to clear lime water with at a rate of 1/4 tsp of dissolved calcium hydroxide in a given hour per 50 gallons of water volume to prevent pH spikes ,precipititation and alk fluctuations. Spread the dose out in small increments 24/7 or over 5 or 6 hours at night.


Parameters, lighting and pH monitor sound fine.

 

[jminick2]

713 says 0 obviously since there is bubble algae coming up there has to be some p04 right?

Not necessarily. Some algae is oligotrophic and does fine with low nutrients. Natural reefs have algae. All of it needs some PO4 but so do your corals.
True zero PO4 prevents the uptake of NO3 and other nitrogen sources



I'm not really sure how much kalk the ato doses at once whatever my evaporation rate is.... 9tsp in 5g..

That could be a problem if it doses stirred up cloudy water and/ or big batches at once. The dose should be limited to clear lime water with at a rate of 1/4 tsp of dissolved calcium hydroxide in a given hour per 50 gallons of water volume to prevent pH spikes ,precipititation and alk fluctuations. Spread the dose out in small increments 24/7 or over 5 or 6 hours at night.


Parameters, lighting and pH monitor sound fine.

it's a tunze ATO it's very spread out. just small increments through out the day.