Vinegar dosing: Snow storm in the tank (Bacteria bloom)

[kara94]

My tank is approximately 70 gallons. I have been doing carbon dosing using vinegar recently.

Currently, I am dosing 15 ml of white vinegar (5% acetic acid) everyday. Today is the 7th day.

From yesterday evening, it is realized that the tank looks like snow storm.

Can anyone share their personal experience on if I should continue to dose the same amount of white vinegar or cut the dose?

Understanding that there has been alot of similar posts out there at other forum, it is still abit worrying for me as I understand that many of them has experienced disaster from vinegar dosing.

 

Thanks

 

 

[soggycookies]

from my experience carbon dosing, typically if the tank gets cloudy and doesn’t clear up the next day i take it as i dosed a bit too much and cut down on the dosage after stopping for a day or 2. overdosing can cause a cyanobacteria/dinoflagellate outbreak which could be dangerous if your system is not well oxygenated(cause they rapidly strip the water of oxygen). another thing you could do is place your wavemaker(s) or return line closer to the water surface to create more water agitation for better oxygen exchange. i don’t know about you but some opt to turn their skimmers off for a while when they carbon dose which would reduce oxygenation throughout the system too. imo this is unnecessary but everyone has their own preference so it’s understandable

 

 

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[kara94]

12 minutes ago, soggycookies said:

from my experience carbon dosing, typically if the tank gets cloudy and doesn’t clear up the next day i take it as i dosed a bit too much and cut down on the dosage after stopping for a day or 2. overdosing can cause a cyanobacteria/dinoflagellate outbreak which could be dangerous if your system is not well oxygenated(cause they rapidly strip the water of oxygen). another thing you could do is place your wavemaker(s) or return line closer to the water surface to create more water agitation for better oxygen exchange. i don’t know about you but some opt to turn their skimmers off for a while when they carbon dose which would reduce oxygenation throughout the system too. imo this is unnecessary but everyone has their own preference so it’s understandable

 

 

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Thanks for your sharing! You have been carbon dosing for long period of time? Would you mind to share any challenges faced during the journey of vinegar dosing?

I was thinking to stop the vinegar dosing for awhile until the blooming situation turns better, as I scare that the situation will gets worsen. (Although currently the coral and fishes looks quite happy, especially my tangs, happily eating the white strings).

 

[soggycookies]

you’re welcome! but i have not dosed for a long time. i used to do it on my previous system that didn’t have the best refugium so i dosed vinegar as an alternative for nutrient control. yes i would suggest stopping for a couple of days to see if the bloom clears. then resume with half the original dose and see if it gets better


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[Harlequinmania]

Normally it should clear over few day after the bacteria bloom. Do look out for coral stress as it can be so effective that the water is stripe out of nutrient and coral can starve to death. So, do consider to feed more and dose amino acid when your nitrate and phosphate hit zero. 

 

 

[kara94]

On 4/12/2020 at 10:03 PM, he said:

Normally it should clear over few day after the bacteria bloom. Do look out for coral stress as it can be so effective that the water is stripe out of nutrient and coral can starve to death. So, do consider to feed more and dose amino acid when your nitrate and phosphate hit zero. 

 

 

Thanks for the reply. And yes, the tank is currently crystal clear. Nevertheless, one of my SPS has suffered RTN, probably due to sharp flux for Nitrate/Phos.