Dosing Vinegar?

revhtree · Jan 2, 2014

Do any of you dose vinegar and if so share how you does and your experience.

From what I understand it takes 8 times as much as vodka but it's less likely to cause algae issues like Cyanobacteria.

Thanks.

NC2WA · Jan 2, 2014

First, I think vinegar and vodka can be lumped into the same category--only used by advanced reefers as you can destroy your tank if the improper amounts are administered. the main issue that needs to be watched is pH as it can/will drop to unsafe levels.

Hope this helps

Kirk

revhtree · Jan 2, 2014

Hey buddy thanks for the info but I want to share info in this thread here on R2R instead of linking to other sources. :)

Gauge · Jan 2, 2014

I have dosed both. I started with vodka then stopped and then started getting cyano so I started vinegar. My experience is it helps cut down on cyano for me. I stopped vinegar dosing a few days ago to see if both the increased nutrients and ph increase will help my sps growth.

Reefing Madness · Jan 2, 2014

I tried the vineagar route when I thought it may be cheaper than vodka dosing, but when I was measuring it out by the cup, I decided that wasn't going to be my cup of tea. I had some issues with the vinegar and cyano, and rarely with the vodka. Guess its all in the tank, you may get cyano with one or the other, you may not see it at all. But yes, the vinegar does take like double the dose of using vodka.
I went from initial dose of 40mls of vodka (lowering trates stage) to dumping in 90mls of vinegar. I didn't like that much at one time, getting up there in its ability to mess with PH, so I went back to vodka.

Mike J. · Jan 2, 2014

I have a 5 gal. bucket with an aqualifter and a JBJ auto top off; with the hose going through the lid and the aqualifter sitting on top. I mix 25 ml of vinegar with 10 teaspoons kalk. Then pour that into the 5 gals. of RO/DI water and use it to top off. There is no undissolved kalk this way. I have great growth on my clams and corals, but the corals are brownish. Now that it's winter and my top off needs have doubled (electric heat), I only use vinegar and kalk every other bucket.

revhtree · Jan 3, 2014

Thanks for the input. Anyone else?

cmaxwell39 · Jan 3, 2014

I dose vinegar. Yes, it takes 8 times as much vinegar as it would vodka to achieve the same level of carbon dosing. This is one of the things I like about dosing vinegar. It gives you a whole lot more ability to dial your dose in to the needs of your tank than you get when dosing vodka.

I dose via a BRS dosing pump controlled by my RKE and break it up so it gets dosed a few times a day. I run no fuge and have had good luck controlling nutrients in my SPS reef using this method.

As far as cyano, I have experienced cyano both dosing vodka and dosing vinegar, although it has been much less severe when dosing vinegar.

mcarroll · Jan 4, 2014

Have not dosed either for nutrient problems, but that's not specified so...

I've used vinegar in my RODI reservoir to boost my kalk reactor's calcium and alkalinity output. If you search for "breefcase kalkwasser" with that exact spelling you should run across an excellent guide that explains the chemistry in good depth while still being understandable to laymen like myself.

As for the potency of vodka vs vinegar, here are some graphics to illustrate, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Vinegar or Acetic Acid

Vodka or Ethanol

Not sure why one would be more potent since there're the same number of carbon atoms in either molecule, unless that double-bond with oxygen in the vinegar makes the second carbon atom less available compared with the vodka structure. Hmm.

With all the hydrogen atoms being dosed with either method (almost double with vodk, it is easy to see why pH is affected. Nutrients really should be controlled by correct stocking and feeding rates, imo - everything else is an imperfect bandaid.

-Matt

bigkai · Jan 4, 2014

With that can you put the vinegar in top off water before it goes in to kalk reactor and if so how much. Taging along

mcarroll · Jan 4, 2014

Google for that article I mentioned - it has the complete story with instructions.

But in a nutshell? Yes, you can. :)

-Matt

Ole Man · Jan 4, 2014

I'm in my third week of doseing vodka,i'm upto 10mls now in a 120 gal tank 165gal total system.I started this because of a high nitrate reading and with high water changes the lowering affect wasn't working out for the tank.Since I've started vodka doseing in the 3-4th. I have noticed an extreme drop off of Nitrates so the dose has been kept at 10mls.I believe over spot feeding my corals has been the cause of this and have since cut back,like most problems they are hobbist induced.When the par's are back to norm again I will decide then stop the vodka or keep up a maintainence dose,will try and keep the thread updated Rev.

bigkai · Jan 4, 2014

My ro water has very high ph its 9.8 iv tryed putting pumps and air stones in it to bring it down but its not working and I'm having to add alk to the tank every day so maybe a little vinegar might help my top off water

Usctom · Jan 4, 2014

I mix it with kalk in ato. I'm happy happy with the resultes in my 60 cube. Make sure you have a good skimmer. I hadissues when iI tried it in a nano. I had some weird bacteria issues with acans.

kv2wr1 · Jan 5, 2014

I started to dose vinegar a few weeks ago and now finally my cyano is subsiding. I used biopellets before that and they caused the outbreak. In another tank, I did Vodka, vinegar and sugar. That also caused cyano. There's a good article in reefkeeping magazine if you do a search on the web that explains vinegar dosing in full. So far I am liking the results.

alan.reef · Jan 5, 2014

following, 2 days ago just start using 10ml vinegar to my 2teaspoon Kalk to 1g Ro-di jug to drip.

revhtree · Jan 20, 2014

Bump!

jg93 · Jan 20, 2014

Usctom said:
I mix it with kalk in ato. I'm happy happy with the resultes in my 60 cube. Make sure you have a good skimmer. I hadissues when iI tried it in a nano. I had some weird bacteria issues with acans.

Could you tell me how much Kalk/Vinegar you put in per gallon in your ATO? Thanks!

lmhufty · Jan 20, 2014

Ole Man said:
I'm in my third week of doseing vodka,i'm upto 10mls now in a 120 gal tank 165gal total system.I started this because of a high nitrate reading and with high water changes the lowering affect wasn't working out for the tank.Since I've started vodka doseing in the 3-4th. I have noticed an extreme drop off of Nitrates so the dose has been kept at 10mls.I believe over spot feeding my corals has been the cause of this and have since cut back,like most problems they are hobbist induced.When the par's are back to norm again I will decide then stop the vodka or keep up a maintainence dose,will try and keep the thread updated Rev.

How often do you dose the 10ml? Daily, weekly? Thanks