Why not mix the 3 (Vodka, vinager, sugar) and dose?
Originally Posted by chort55
FWIW... Vodka could easily fuel that cyano that you already have on the sand. I would not recommend switching the source, find one or a combination and stick to it.
Sounds good I'll look into it thx. Did you get the results you were aiming for w/ the vinegar, and if you have dosed one or the other for any length of time which one worked better? As far as mixing things together even when it can be done I can't do it. No reason to mix except a lazy day.
Is anyone type of carbon better than the other? If I want to combine 2 should I start both right away or one than the other? Do the different carbon sources have any benefit over the other 2?
Just read up on the vinegar dosing. Seems if I am used to dosing vodka, vinegar should be like getting on a slightly different model bike. Rides a little different, same destination.
Mag is low and I hear raising it by 100 daily is safe, but I'm aiming for 50 ppm daily maybe less. I have never been able to keep my alk above 8 and the norm for my tank is 7. I have read when using this method it is best to keep it lower, so as not to burn the sps corals. Natural sea water is 7 to my understanding so outside of trying to improve growth I never fully understood why the 8-11 range was so important. As far as a low alk # slowing down growth I haven't noticed that. I have a slow growing elephant foot that has doubled in size in 6 months. Easily doubled in size and I see noticeable week to week growth on every coral in the system.
I would be concerned about your Ph being so low in spite of all the algae you have growing. The algae is producing O2 which should raise your Ph. However it still appears to be depleted which means the system is depleted of O2. The bacteria that bloom from dosing carbon is going to consume O2 and further deplete your Ph. I personally don't think that skimmer is enough to counter that.
I would suggest raising your magnesium up to 1600-1700 using Kent Tech M. I would also run some gfo in a reactor. This will wipe out the bryopsis very quickly and as it dies it will release the PO4 that is bound up in it. The GFO will remove the excess PO4. When the bryopsis is gone allow the mag to drop back down to around 1285 and continue to run GFO.
I would also raise your alk up to around 8dkh and keep it stable. Most hobby test kits are not lab grade. They can be fairly inaccurate. Let's say your kit is accurate to +/- 2dkh. If you test at 6dkh it could actually be 4dkh or 8dkh. If you test at 8dkh you could be between 6dkh and 10dkh which is a better range. In such a small amount of water carbonate can deplete quickly. The abundant PO4 in the system inhibits calcification. Once you remove it you will have more growth of your coraline and corals. This will result in consumption of carbonate. Running your alk around 8dkh will give you a little cushion and keep your Ph from bouncing.
I would also suggest getting the surface churning a bit more. This will allow O2 to mix with your water and raise the Ph.
I have a hanna checker for my alk testing which I hear are really good. I'll aim for 8 shouldn't be that hard. I have started to raise the mag, but want to go slow w/ that 1. There has been progress as far as the algae is concerned...it has changed color and is not growing and has become easy to remove.
Also the PH test was run mid light cycle so it was probably closer to 8.2 at the end of lighting cycle. I am not counting on that though so I'll be testing it 3 time today...when lights come on and mid day as well as right before the lights go off. I want to know what the PH is doing through out the day.
Is GFO a must or would trying something else be okay too?
Last edited by TanksEveryWhere; 11-16-2012 at 09:37 AM.
A2 Club Coordinator
CR Member
Originally Posted by Sir Patrick
How would I combine more than one?
Moderator
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
