Quote:
Originally Posted by mitchellghall
Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum so please excuse me if I've posted this thread in the wrong place.
So, about a fortnight ago I attached a 25L DIY macro algae reactor to my 200L mixed reef aquarium. After researching macro algae reactors pretty extensively online, I was expecting crazy growth and nutrient export results. Although I think the algae has grown at least a little, I can't help but wonder if I'm doing something wrong. Nutrients have also stayed the same as usual the entire time.
Could my vinegar dosing be stunting the growth of my macro algae? I'm no expert but I'm sure vinegar would kill a garden plant, so why wouldn't it do the same to aquatic plants? I was formerly dosing 40ml daily of a 10% vinegar, kalkwasser, RODI solution, but stopped dosing two days ago now. Does anyone have any experience with this or know the science behind it? Did I do the right thing or should I continue carbon dosing? Thanks!
(Side note: Aquarium is 7 months old, phosphate is <0.25, nitrate is 10.)
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The acetic acid you are dosing ist calcium acetate, so, the comparison to acetic acid on a garden plant may not be a good analogy.
40 mL of vinegar will give you about 10 ppm acetate in your system. What isn’t known with certainty is the actual concentration. The prevailing assumption is that the daily dose is completely consumed before the next day’s dose. I have seen 0 science to back up that assumption.
Since you are carbon dosing to reduce phosphate and nitrate, why did you add an algae reactor? Just curious.
What is the issue or concern? Alga growth rate? Nutrient depletion rate? The system has plent of nitrogen and phosphorous for alga growth. What about light intensity, flow, and CO2 levels?