Vinegar dosing help??

[mfbs1998]

Been really interested in dosing my tank with vinegar for the past couple of days. I have been having a hard time trying to get rid of hair algae. Anyone have any advice on dosing it with vinegar?

If anyone is wondering, I have a mix of sps and lps corals with parameters of:
specific gravity- 1.025-1.026
ammonia: 0 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 5 ppm
pH: 8.2
calcium: 400 ppm
magnesium: 1250 ppm
alkalinity: 10 dKH

 

[ZachR32]

Need to know phosphate levels, those are more related to algae issues. Vinegar could be helpful but if your phosphates are high then it's better to use another method, e.g GFO

 

[mfbs1998]

phosphate are around 1 ppm

 

[ZachR32]

Then you're best bet is to use some kind of phosphate removal media. Carbon dosing does help remove phosphates but on a much much lower scale than it removes nitrates. I would recommend GFO in a reactor and you'll see the hair algae slowly go away.

 

[mfbs1998]

Is there a cheaper option?? I'm in college so I really dont have a lot of money right now

Would you recommend chemipure?? I heard those helps at removing phosphates.

 

[ZachR32]

I've no experience with chemipure, just seen mixed reviews. Save up for a reactor and some GFO. It's worth it. You can find reactors for pretty cheap online or even build your own.

 

[Tbell805]

Woah no need to rough the guy up. At least he asked for help. I use phosphate rx and vinegar dose and run an algae scrubber to keep nitrates and phosphates low.

 

[Tautog]

ChemiPure Elite will remove nitrates and Po4’s. But Vinegar isn’t the answer. Try to find out the Why?
Are you using R/O water? UV light? Did you try a Blackout for 3-4 days?
CUC?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yup. Low nutints won’t kill off algaes. Cuc is your first go to if your numbers are good.

If you have a small tank , you chanuse gfo in a bag. You don’t need a reactor. Just put it in a higher flow area. Phosguard is like $6- $10 for a small jar.

Organic carbon dosing will lower nitrates first , then phosphate. (Funny nopox is carbin dosing)

Here’s the vinegar chart. I’d use less than the reccomend or use the min every other day when you start. Just to see if you get cyano etc. common complaint.

Keep in mind , it takes time.

 

[Tbell805]

What I fear is that your rocks and sand might be loaded with phosphate and as soon as you start to lower them the rock and sand will release more into the water to reach a place of equilibrium. You need to stay on top of either replacing gfo, exporting algae, or phosphate removers. This can last a while because the media will become exhausted very quickly. Just to double check though how did you measure phosphate?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

What I fear is that your rocks and sand might be loaded with phosphate and as soon as you start to lower them the rock and sand will release more into the water to reach a place of equilibrium. You need to stay on top of either replacing gfo, exporting algae, or phosphate removers. This can last a while because the media will become exhausted very quickly. Just to double check though how did you measure phosphate?

Phosphate is already in equilibrium with the water. That’s how we can test for it.

 

[mfbs1998]

ChemiPure Elite will remove nitrates and Po4’s. But Vinegar isn’t the answer. Try to find out the Why?
Are you using R/O water? UV light? Did you try a Blackout for 3-4 days?
CUC?

So I just started using R/O water for about a month now, no UV light, and i have about 10 hermit crabs, 6 turbo snails, and 4 astrae snails. I havent though about doing the blackout.

 

[mfbs1998]

Ok would putting Gfo media in a bag and putting it in my sump where water enters it would be a good idea?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Ok would putting Gfo media in a bag and putting it in my sump where water enters it would be a good idea?

Or right next to or on the return pump. Yes. The switch to rodi will make a big difference.
I do also highly reccomend the tooth brush too.

 

[mfbs1998]

Ahh good ol reliable toothbrush.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[ZachR32]

A blackout won't do a whole lot to lower phosphate. Once the algae dies and decomposes, phosphate is rereleased into the water. Plenty of good ideas here tho! Good luck

 

[Ed Chan]

just to make sure, are the values in the chart daily doses? (ie. for week 2 on a 150 gallon tank, we should be dosing 13.6mL / day of vinegar)

Yup. Low nutints won’t kill off algaes. Cuc is your first go to if your numbers are good.

If you have a small tank , you chanuse gfo in a bag. You don’t need a reactor. Just put it in a higher flow area. Phosguard is like $6- $10 for a small jar.

Organic carbon dosing will lower nitrates first , then phosphate. (Funny nopox is carbin dosing)

Here’s the vinegar chart. I’d use less than the reccomend or use the min every other day when you start. Just to see if you get cyano etc. common complaint.
View attachment 681502

Keep in mind , it takes time.

 

[Greg P]

Whoa there big fella!!
Sure, you have hair algae, but you don't have high nutrients in your tests.
Just let your tank settle a bit. It's not the end of the world to have algae, even hair algae.
Manually scrub it off the rocks and siphon it out.
Don't start getting aggressive with it using chems.
Let it run it's course

You can scrub it and deal with it

 

[Greg P]

Eventually it will run out of fuel after your tank matures

 

[SDK]

just to make sure, are the values in the chart daily doses? (ie. for week 2 on a 150 gallon tank, we should be dosing 13.6mL / day of vinegar)

Yes, those are daily doses...

@gregzz4 the initial post is almost two years old