Kalk and vinegar
- Thread starter patchin
- Start date
Supporting Member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2005
- Messages
- 17,384
When I did that method, and it may simply be anecdotal, but I got massive algae blooms when I used vinegar, I could have also have been using too much vinegar as well. But IIRC, adding the vinegar does in fact release organic carbon sources (??, Norman come rescue me!! 
) which algae does consume.
) which algae does consume.
Past President
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2005
- Messages
- 9,399
[quote author=patchin link=topic=3165.msg34844#msg34844 date=1203788911]
Opinions on this method of adding kalk and reducing NO3. thanks, Steve
http://www.reefscapes.net/articles/breefcase/kalkwasser.html
[/quote]
That's a very good article.
That's the method I use myself. I set up a kalk resevoir instead of a reactor. And I add vinegar to the kalk water.
I have enough stonies in the display tank that saturated kalk can't keep up. I have to add vinegar to dissolve more kalk into the water.
I probably could use a bit more vinegar. I'm adding a little over 15ml of 5% vinegar per quart of kalkwater.... 250ml per 4 gallons. And I still add 2 part once in a while, but that may be due to the system trying to get alk/Ca/pH in a stable mode after the recent precipitation event.
I'm not using it for nitrate reduction though, and I don't test for nitrate.
My prop tank gets by with straight saturated kalk... no vinegar. I probably could add just a little bit of vinegar to that system too, since I add a small amount of 2 part every few days to get things where I want then. Typically I'm bumping by .2 meq/L every few days.
Opinions on this method of adding kalk and reducing NO3. thanks, Steve
http://www.reefscapes.net/articles/breefcase/kalkwasser.html
[/quote]
That's a very good article.
That's the method I use myself. I set up a kalk resevoir instead of a reactor. And I add vinegar to the kalk water.
I have enough stonies in the display tank that saturated kalk can't keep up. I have to add vinegar to dissolve more kalk into the water.
I probably could use a bit more vinegar. I'm adding a little over 15ml of 5% vinegar per quart of kalkwater.... 250ml per 4 gallons. And I still add 2 part once in a while, but that may be due to the system trying to get alk/Ca/pH in a stable mode after the recent precipitation event.
I'm not using it for nitrate reduction though, and I don't test for nitrate.
My prop tank gets by with straight saturated kalk... no vinegar. I probably could add just a little bit of vinegar to that system too, since I add a small amount of 2 part every few days to get things where I want then. Typically I'm bumping by .2 meq/L every few days.
Past President
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2005
- Messages
- 9,399
[quote author=sfsuphysics link=topic=3165.msg34845#msg34845 date=1203790159]
When I did that method, and it may simply be anecdotal, but I got massive algae blooms when I used vinegar, I could have also have been using too much vinegar as well. But IIRC, adding the vinegar does in fact release organic carbon sources (??, Norman come rescue me!!) which algae does consume.[/quote]
Yep, the vinegar itself is an organic carbon source. It gets metabolized by the bacteria to give CO2 which becomes carbonate and bicarbonate.
As you add more vinegar, you drop your pH which could be why you get the algae blooms. I had bryopsis melt after I raised pH with kalk.
Excess vinegar could cause bacteria blooms too.
You might see algae issues if you're adding more than 15ml vinegar per quart of kalk (60ml per gallon).
When I did that method, and it may simply be anecdotal, but I got massive algae blooms when I used vinegar, I could have also have been using too much vinegar as well. But IIRC, adding the vinegar does in fact release organic carbon sources (??, Norman come rescue me!!
) which algae does consume.[/quote]Yep, the vinegar itself is an organic carbon source. It gets metabolized by the bacteria to give CO2 which becomes carbonate and bicarbonate.
As you add more vinegar, you drop your pH which could be why you get the algae blooms. I had bryopsis melt after I raised pH with kalk.
Excess vinegar could cause bacteria blooms too.
You might see algae issues if you're adding more than 15ml vinegar per quart of kalk (60ml per gallon).
