Vinegar/Vodka Dosing

[charged45]

Anyone use either of these methods to reduce Nitrates? I have read where some have had Cyno Blooms. Are there drawbacks to this method?

 

[frank180reef]

what type of corals do u keep?
I did this for a while and while my sps did well, the softies and LPS didnt do as well ,

right now I am pretty convinced that softies and some LPS (gonis for ex) are very happy with higher nutrient levels (organic)................................

 

[mchartier]

I was vinegar dosing from November to about May. I had great results on the algae side of it. The reason I stopped was that I could see the white strains growing on my back wall. When I shut my main pumps off it would release a lot of the strains into the display. I was dosing very minimal also on my tank, I was not ULNS I kept it at .03-5 on Phosphate and about 15-20 on Nitrate, I was at 10 mils per day for my maintenance dose.

When I decided to stop, I slowly reduced my daily dosages over a month until I was done. Even doing this I ended up with a bacteria bloom that lasted about 8 days. The tank was a little cloudy the entire time. I did not loose anything but some corals did not look very well. Once it cleared up I had slight bleaching on a few pieces such as my orange plate, purple haze monti, red planet, and spathulata. Everything is coming back great now except the plate, that still looks a little ruff.

I keep mainly SPS I only have 2 LPS

 

[charged45]

No corals yet. Want to reduce the nitrates before I add them. That has been a challenge.

 

[mchartier]

What's the livestock in the tank and what is your feeding schedule? What are you levels at now?

 

[Dashiki]

I dose red sea nopox its more straight forward than vinegar/vodka it keeps everything down. I stopped because i ran out and ended up with cyano. I started back up again and it went away in two days.

 

[Matt W]

Check out this paper. http://www.reefkeeping.com/joomla/i...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium
I dose 0.2 mL/gal Vinegar per day in kalk. No cyano. With vodka I had some cyano.

Also, IMHO the table is a little off, especially for nano tanks.

Others recommend 0.1 or 0.25 or 0.5 mL per gallon,

 

[charged45]

2 gobies, Maroon Clown, CUC Serpent star, 120# of LR, 120# LS. Skimmer, sump, BRS dual reactor, Feed a few x's at night but not more than gets consumed. Tank has been set up for 5 years.

 

[mchartier]

120lbs of live sand? What size tank?

 

[charged45]

125g

 

[mchartier]

That's about a 2" sandbed right? I'm wondering if it maybe your sandbed.

 

[charged45]

Sandbed? What would be the problem?

 

[focus]

Done it all,vinegar,vodka bio-pellets and now 3rd month on vitamin C. This has been the most successful so far. I use sodium ascorbate crystals. No cyano with the C knock on wood!

 

[mchartier]

If a sandbed is not maintained ditritus can build up in it and cause issues down the line, mainly with DSBs (3"+).

 

[charged45]

Sandbed is about 1 1/2-2" I have a serpent star and a CUC. What do you mean by maintaining the sandbed? I thought it was best to leave it undisturbed?

 

[mchartier]

2 gobies, Maroon Clown, CUC Serpent star, 120# of LR, 120# LS. Skimmer, sump, BRS dual reactor, Feed a few x's at night but not more than gets consumed. Tank has been set up for 5 years.

Sandbed is about 1 1/2-2" I have a serpent star and a CUC. What do you mean by maintaining the sandbed? I thought it was best to leave it undisturbed?

You have a very small bioload for a 125g tank. I am looking at the sandbed because they act as a nutrient sink and organic compounds will build up in them if not maintained. A lot of people will replace a portion of their sand yearly or bi-yearly. I vacuum a tiny bit off the top of my sand when I do water changes, and replace it when I feel it starting to get low. My bed is about 2.5-3 inches due to having a wrasse that sleeps in the sand, if not for her I would not have any sand.

You list CUC but what do you have for a clean up crew? Anything that stirs the sand like nass. snail or conchs, cucumber?

 

[charged45]

I do have some nass. snails, as well as a variety of hermits and snails. I would like to get a few conchs. I have read some threads where they say the sandbed should be left alone.

 

[delta]

If you are only doing it to control nitrates consider just doing better maintenance. by falsely lowering nitrates you will only make things harder once you have issues down the line. get the tank in order before starting any doing regiment. water changes water changes water changes. things in a reef take months to fix once they go off course, the sooner you accept that the longer you will last in the hobby.

 

[charged45]

Been doing 20% WC every week for the last 3 months. Only coral line algae is growing. My chaeto is shrinking. Nitrates are the nutrient that is high. It has gone down from 100ppm to 40ppm.

 

[mchartier]

This is pulled from the RC Archives from Randy Holmes-Farley, this is why I siphon a small amount during water changes and replace when needed.

The breakdown of organics in sand (or anywhere else) can lead to released nitrate and phosphate. If those organics are otherwise removed, then that breakdown doesn't happen. If those organics just settle out elsewhere in the system then having the sand bed itself will not "cause" any more nitrate to be released.

Sand beds do have the potential for denitrification, which causes nitrate to be reduced in the water. So they can and often are permanent sinks for nitrate.

And here is one of his articles of nitrate in a reef aquarium http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/8/chemistry