Debating starting vinegar dosing.

[slythy]

I am currently at about 12.5 nitrates and .10 phosphates. I use gfo so the phos swings a little bit between .5 and .15. I want to get more fish and feed heavier. If I could get my nitrates around 4-8 i think I would be happy.

I have a skimmer, refugium set to around 14 hours on, and a gfo reactor. Is it reasonable to do “light” vinegar dosing to drop nitrates down?

I have plenty of unused dosing heads. Any real downsides for an SPS tank?

 

[20gallonreefer000]

I am currently at about 12.5 nitrates and .10 phosphates. I use gfo so the phos swings a little bit between .5 and .15. I want to get more fish and feed heavier. If I could get my nitrates around 4-8 i think I would be happy.

I have a skimmer, refugium set to around 14 hours on, and a gfo reactor. Is it reasonable to do “light” vinegar dosing to drop nitrates down?

I have plenty of unused dosing heads. Any real downsides for an SPS tank?

Downsides can be levels dropping to quickly and lowering oxygen. I'm curious, why do you want to drop your nitrates? 12.5 is fine for sps.

 

[rishma]

Is it reasonable? Sure! Are there potential downsides? Sure!

There could be benefits from more bacteria in the water column as food for corals, and the acetate might be used directly by corals and other organisms too.

Is 4-8ppm nitrate better than 15ppm? I’m not so sure. I like my nitrate to be >5ppm.

I would be quite happy with your current nutrient levels. I like carbon dosing for a variety of reasons and might experiment with it, but not for the purpose of lower nutrients if I was in your shoes. I prefer not to use GFO, so carbon dosing with added nitrogen so it doesn’t drop nitrate too much is my preferred way to try to manage phosphate.

You might like NP BactoBalance as a carbon source. It’s worth looking into.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I personally have higher levels than you do and do not want to start organic carbon dosing. I agree with both of the above analyses of the pros and cons. There are also risks to driving pathogenic, or at least undesirable, bacteria.

Here’s my recommendation in general:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/randy’s-thoughts-on-nutrient-target-ranges.1087/
4. What targets seem reasonable? Of course, that depends on all the other factors at play, such as types of corals, availability of ammonia, particulate foods, etc. However, for a mature mixed reef, this would be how I personally would run it:

• Let nitrate float between 5 ppm and 50 ppm. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above 50 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by organic carbon dosing, turf or macroalgae, etc.
• Below 5 ppm, I’d begin to dose ammonia or feed more. The target level might drop lower if dosing ammonia, just like the heavy in/heavy out scenario where nitrate may not be as needed.
• Let phosphate float between about 0.06 ppm and 0.3 ppm. This range is higher than I’ve recommended in the past. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above about 0.3 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by turf or macroalgae, or a binder such as GFO or lanthanum (has its own risks to tangs). If a binder: GO SLOW. Turf and macroalgae will typically be slow enough.
• Below 0.06 ppm, I’d begin to dose sodium phosphate or feed more to get the level up.

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

Those nutrients numbers are not an issue and actually at a perfect range imo. Nitrates can be reduced by water changes which are pretty important for removing DOC. You could always get some corals to help reduce nutrients :)