Hi Craig,
The original carbon method was adding Vodka, Sugar and Vinegar mixture. All 3 are carbon sources and feed slightly different types of bacteria. When overdosed one causes snotty type strings from rocks etc, another causes hazy type films and another clouds the water.
I presently use Vodka/white vinegar mix with Foz Down. Don't add the Foz Down to the Vodka/Vinegar mix. The Vodka is stronger than the vinegar so less is needed. There is no problem combining Vodka and Vinegar at the same time. The way I maintain my acro grow out system is by using Vodka/Vinegar to control Nitrate and Foz Down to control Phosphate.
You don't want to have zero Phosphate and zero Nitrate in your system. The symbiotic algae that the corals use for a large portion of their energy, needs some Phosphate and some Nitrate. As long as the Phosphate is < 0.03 and Nitrate is < 7 I do not worry about it.
What is the concentration of Vinegar your using? ie % Acetic Acid. Sounds like your using a lot for that bio load. Are you measuring it with a syringe or going by a dosing pump?
If you decide to add Vodka to the vinegar don't add more than 2ml Vodka/day to start with. With the Vodka Vinegar method you are growing bacteria so you need to build it slowly over a several month period. You can safely increase the dosage by 25% per week until you see the nitrate begin to drop. Then keep it at that level until nitrate is down to where you want it, then reduce dosage until nitrate stays steady.
Looking at your water tests from the 2nd I would say that hardy acros like millipora etc would not have a problem with the Phosphate and Nitrate levels. They would have lots of problems from the Calcium at 320. It needs to be around 430. The key to a successful reef tank is stability in all parameters and maintenance.
Thanks for using Foz Down!!
Cheers,
Tim
|