Carbon dosing

[hdngo]

@Randy Holmes-Farley @Mi Reef

I ask this topic before but I want to create a fresh post to have all fresh information, instead of searching through all the post for information.
So instead of 100% vodka that creates a lot of brown slimes when I start dosing lanthanum chlorine (LC). I manually remove all slimes, large water change and I switched to vodka/vinegar 50/50, and also start from 2ml/day , now I am up to 5ml/day . My nitrate is currently 35 and climbing, but I also start seeing the brown slimes again, note, I only increase my dose by .5ml every two weeks. The question is, I thought I can keep increasing the dose until I see nitrate reduce, but I don’t see that happening and slime already forming. What am I doing wrong? The chart below showing both my nitrate and phosphate. Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’d stop the vodka and stick to just vinegar to see if that helps. The slime is bacteria of some sort which can consume the organic. Often it is hidden away, but not always.

 

[hdngo]

Thanks Randy! Do I just switch to equivalent dose of 5ml of vodka/vinegar combo? Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks Randy! Do I just switch to equivalent dose of 5ml of vodka/vinegar combo? Thanks

I’d switch to 10 mL vinegar and see how that goes. It may not help but is worth a try.

 

[hdngo]

Thanks Randy!