Switching from Vodka + Vinegar to only Vinegar

[rsucre]

Originally Posted by tmz

Personally , I'd leave it there for a while or even reduce it a little,given the 0 PO4 and siphon out any detritus that may have accumulated in the sand.

Thank you buddy! I have been restraining from feeding. Maybe I can leave the vinegar dose there, not reduce it, and start feeding a little (just a little) more given the zero phosphates? Now the thing is the NO3 that I would like to see a little lower.

[hkgar]

Originally Posted by tmz

Thanks for picking that up. I used the 210 system volume and then mistakenly divided it by the total dose when I should have divided the dose by the system volume. I'll edit my post accordingly

Not a problem at all. We all do make a mistake from time to time. I get 165 by deducting for rocks and sand and the sump is 4 inches from the top for flow back from the DT. Found a calculator around here once.

[rsucre]

Hi. Following up. I have been dosing 10ml per day of Vinegar for a week now (up from 7ml per day). Still have Cyano on the sandbed. PO4 is now at 0.03 ppm and NO4 is up at 3 ppm.

What do you recommend? Should I increase the dose?

Just as a reminder, the tank is 20 gal. with 10 gal. sump aprox. 22 gal. water volume total.

[bertoni]

Increase the dose a bit should be fine. How are the corals (if any) doing?

[rsucre]

Originally Posted by bertoni

Increase the dose a bit should be fine. How are the corals (if any) doing?

Hi Jonathan,

Overall, the coral are doing well. They are coloring up a bit in the last couple of weeks. For instance, my red montipora capricornis was pale and now it is bright red. But still, I think that most of my coral have too much brown (zooxanthellae?) color in them. A mystic sunset frag that was not doing well is also coloring up and growing.

Also, I think that the green hair algae is becoming weaker.

[bertoni]

I think that increasing the dose should be fine, but I'd keep watching the corals for signs of problems.

[Horace]

i used to use vodka too, and yes i did also get a bit of cyano. What I have read recently is that studies have shown that Vodka and its associated carbon source encourages cyano. But more importantly is it INHIBITS the bacteria that converts Nitrate to Nitrogen gas. For that reason alone I would say it should be avoided. Since Vinegar does NOT promote cyano, and it also ENCOURAGES growth of the types of beneficial bacteria we want to convert NO3...there is really no reason to use any vodka. The only downside to Vinegar is if you have issues with low pH. Otherwise, its the preferred choice from everything I have read lately.

[rsucre]

Originally Posted by Horace

i used to use vodka too, and yes i did also get a bit of cyano. What I have read recently is that studies have shown that Vodka and its associated carbon source encourages cyano. But more importantly is it INHIBITS the bacteria that converts Nitrate to Nitrogen gas. For that reason alone I would say it should be avoided. Since Vinegar does NOT promote cyano, and it also ENCOURAGES growth of the types of beneficial bacteria we want to convert NO3...there is really no reason to use any vodka. The only downside to Vinegar is if you have issues with low pH. Otherwise, its the preferred choice from everything I have read lately.

Thanks for the feedback Kurt. Can you share how do you decide how much vinegar to dose? What do you monitor and whats the logic behind increasing or decreasing your dose.

[hkgar]

Originally Posted by rsucre

Thanks for the feedback Kurt. Can you share how do you decide how much vinegar to dose? What do you monitor and whats the logic behind increasing or decreasing your dose.

Use this guide. Just multiply by 8 - the amount of vinegar to equal 1 unit of vodka.

I start you must be patient and follow the program. It took almost 12 week before NO3 started to come down for me.

[rsucre]

Thanks Gary. I know the guide from Genetics. I wanted to know if you had an alternative methodology. I have been carbon dosing since early stages of this tank (about 1 year). Started with NOPOX, then DIY NOPOX (vinegar - vodka blend) and now switched to vinegar only. Dosing via dosing pump.

[bertoni]

The guide is very conservative. You could try ramping up the carbon more rapidly. I'd be careful to watch for bacterial slime buildups, though.

[tmz]

Originally Posted by Horace

i used to use vodka too, and yes i did also get a bit of cyano. What I have read recently is that studies have shown that Vodka and its associated carbon source encourages cyano. But more importantly is it INHIBITS the bacteria that converts Nitrate to Nitrogen gas. For that reason alone I would say it should be avoided. Since Vinegar does NOT promote cyano, and it also ENCOURAGES growth of the types of beneficial bacteria we want to convert NO3...there is really no reason to use any vodka. The only downside to Vinegar is if you have issues with low pH. Otherwise, its the preferred choice from everything I have read lately.

What have you read?

The carbon source from vodka and vinegar is the same ;it's acetate.
Neither has any direct relationship to the bacteria that take oxygen from nitrate leading to nitrogen gas formation . The bacteria that use the acetate for a carbon source limit the supply of nitrate since they take ammonia preferentially for nitrogen in a once step process without ammonia oxidation and nitrate production; they may also use some nitrate for the nitrogen not the oxygen.

Both vodka and vinegar reduce pH at about the same rate long term but viengar/acetic acid causes initial precipitous drops in pH when it is dosed. Vodka/ ethanol does not since it needs some time to oxidize to vinegar/acetic acid.

Need to go add my nightly vodka dose .

[hkgar]

I dose me with vodka and the tank with vinegar - the fish just can't handle their alcohol.

Actually I dose a 50/50, but had to say that.

[tmz]

When you self dose vodka the tank and parameters just look better.

[rsucre]

Yep... the effects of self dosing with vodka...

[hkgar]

Yup everything can look better but if you over dose than things look pretty bad in the morning. Always dose responsibly.