Best way/location to drip vinegar?

[jimmyj7090]

Best way/location to drip vinegar?

-I currently run a fairly small kalk reactor on my system, about 1/2 gal volume. I drip close to 1 gal per day through it over about 14 hours. Current system is @ 50 gal.

-I am planning on experimenting with dosing some vinegar as a means for carbon dosing.
-I have a very slow/accurate dosing pump (2 ml / 3 min).

What would be better or worse places to add the vinegar;
-Add another fitting and dose the vinegar INTO the kalk reactor?
-Add a T fitting and pump the vinegar into the OUTPUT of the kalk reactor?
-Drip the vinegar next to the drip of the kalk in the sump?
-Drip the vinegar somewhere away from the kalk drip, in the sump?
-Somewhere else?

Any input apprecitated.

[chris88]

I just finished writting this to you in your other post lol.

Hounestly that's way to complicated for me. I have doesd vinegar and kalk for a year now with great results. Vinegar is less potent as a carbon source then vodka so there is more leg room to not overdoes. All i do is buy a large jug of vinegar, slowly add kalk and mix, and keep adding kalk until you notice that the kalk starts to settle at the bottom and not dissolove. when this happens it is supersatured and will not disolve anymore. you will be suprised how much kalk will disolove in vinegar vs. ro water. Once you have it mixed you can does depending on your schedule. My guidline is when i notice a light white film begging to appear on the glass then i know i am adding a bit to much so i ease up. Basically i add, about a half an oz a day for 50g of total water. If i were you i would add maybe 10mls a day for a week and then if you don't notice that white film where you would normally grow green algae on the glass then increase your does by 5ml each week until you find that happy balance. I have taught many people how to do this without any side effects to corals (sps, lps, zoas). The only negative i have ever noticed was when i over doesd a bit and my alk was above 8dkh some of my sps lightend, but once i brought the alk down it was fine. Having the kalk mixed with the vinegar is going to help add a lot more calcium and alkalinty to you water because its much more potent then normal kalk so keep that in mind. good luck!

[jimmyj7090]

Sorry, I didn't meant to cross post. The thread in the other forum is deleted as well as I could.

Thks for the input :)

[chris88]

No worries let me know how it goes. Houneslty it not very touchy, I would feel confident in dumping in 100mls at once with no ill effect other then a slight bacterial growth on the glass. You won't need a really structured dosing schedule like vodka. Just start slow, monitor your livestock and adjust. I forget to mention because i thought this was common sense but having a fully finctioning skimmer is a must.

[bertoni]

I'd likely just use the dosing pump to add the vinegar, because I'm lazy, but dosing by hand seems to be fine, too. It's easier to control the dose if it's added directly to the tank. I don't see any reason to dose into the kalk reactor.

[jimmyj7090]

I'd likely just use the dosing pump to add the vinegar, because I'm lazy, but dosing by hand seems to be fine, too. It's easier to control the dose if it's added directly to the tank. I don't see any reason to dose into the kalk reactor.

Thks :)

[bertoni]

You're welcome! Good luck!