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Unread 02/04/2018, 02:42 PM   #351
rsucre
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Updated parameters.

NO3 = 0.5 ppm
PO4 = 0.06 ppm
KH = 8.2 dKH

It seems that I should reduce the feeding a little bit and/or increase the vinegar a little bit back to 27 ml/day. Or wait a couple more days to see how the system behaves.


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Unread 02/04/2018, 02:48 PM   #352
bertoni
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Well, the results are ambiguous to me. I'd probably leave the system unchanged for a bit, but I don't know what will happen.


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Unread 02/06/2018, 06:42 PM   #353
rsucre
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It seems that the new dosing pump was underdosing vinegar (perhaps 20ml instead of the desired 25ml). I made some adjustments, which applied yesterday and today.

Updated parameters:

NO3 = 0.25 ppm
PO4 = 0 ppm
KH = 8.4 dKH

* Perhaps time of day impacts the measures? The previous one was taken around 12:00 and this one was taken at 19:00. I also fed less in the last couple of days...

I keep dosing 2 drops of Cyano Clean, as per instructions. No noticeable effect yet. The cyano is still there on the sandbed and some on the glass.

Green algae is very little, mostly on the back glass. To the point that I'm a little worried for an urchin that I have.

The corals look happy.



Last edited by rsucre; 02/06/2018 at 06:46 PM. Reason: Additional info.
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Unread 02/06/2018, 07:16 PM   #354
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The dKH might vary a bit throughout the day due to the timing of the doses and a varying rate of growth, but the difference should be small. Phosphate might make a bit of a spike when food is added, since most foods are going to release some phosphate immediately.


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Unread 02/07/2018, 12:21 AM   #355
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Originally Posted by juju187 View Post
Hi guys, is there any quantifiable evidence to show that vinegar (acetic acid) results in lower cyanobacteria than other carbon sources such as ethanol or glucose?

I used to only dose vodka for some years and then made the gradual transition to a 1:8 50% mix vinegar and vodka and finally 100% vinegar over a few months period. My dosage rate was 100ml on 120gal drip daily, including kalk.

Over the last couple of months i have had big cyanobacteria flare ups. I have used ChemiClean, done 50% water changes, changed bulbs and reduced light hours to 6, dose good bacteria, tested rodi water supply etc and the cyan keeps returning, increasingly worse. I believe i may have cultivated a resistant strain. I cut back the vinegar gradually to 0 assuming it was fueling. In the meantime my N03 has slowly krept up to 5ppm. P03 is undetectable due to GFO.

I would like to resume the vinegar dosing again but would like to see some evidence it is the least likely food source for cyano. I want to avoid using a using a broad spectrum antibiotic if i can help it.

Any advice and evidence sources would be appreciated.

Further to this and as always with nothing more than anecdotal evidence...

1. I found non substantial academic research showing vinegar is the worst carbon source vis a vis other carbon sources.

2. I continued to blow all of the cyano off all rocks and vacuum from sand, continued no carbon dosing, and did a series of 20% water changes whilst all cyano detritus was suspended in wc. A total of 50% water change was conducted. I continued to dose cyano clean and micro bacter daily.

3. All residual cyano has now gone for a period of a week which is longer than prior periods, there has been temporary decreases in NO3 or PO despite the water changes, increasing back to original level, this is surprising however may be a die off in bacteria due to suspending carbon dosing. The rocks and sand look noticeably cleaner.

4. I have resumed carbon dosing at 25% of original 0.8ml/gal dose amount.


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Unread 02/09/2018, 07:16 PM   #356
rsucre
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Update: After a few days of monitoring closely making sure that the new dosing pump is dosing 25ml vinegar daily I got the following results:

NO3 = 0 ppm - Red Sea Pro
PO4 = 0 ppm - Hanna Phosphorus ULR
KH = 8.6 dKH

Cyanobacteria still there, as usual. I have dosed the 2 drops of Zeovit CyanoClean daily. No noticeable effects yet.



Last edited by rsucre; 02/09/2018 at 09:09 PM. Reason: typo
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Unread 02/09/2018, 07:37 PM   #357
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rsucre View Post
Update: After a few days of monitoring closely making sure that the new dosing pumps are dosing 25ml vinegar daily I got the following results:

NO3 = 0 ppm - Red Sea Pro
PO4 = 0 ppm - Hanna Phosphorus ULR
KH = 8.6 dKH

Cyanobacteria still there, as usual. I have dosed the 2 drops of Zeovit CyanoClean daily. No noticeable effects yet.
You must be happy with the results.


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Unread 02/09/2018, 07:41 PM   #358
rsucre
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You must be happy with the results.
Hi Dan, I'm happy for the undetectable PO4 and NO3, but unhappy with the lack of results from the Zeovit CyanoClean. Will keep trying.

I will now increase a little bit on the feeding of Reef Roids and Reef Energy. Little by little, to see if I can get to PO4 = 0.02 ppm and NO3 almost undetectable, maybe 0.25 ppm.


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Unread 02/09/2018, 09:07 PM   #359
bertoni
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That's good progress. Finding a bacterial strain that can always outcompete cyanobacteria in a tank is going to be difficult. Please keep us updated on your results!


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Unread 02/10/2018, 03:44 AM   #360
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Cyano is bacteria so you’re likely feeding it by overdosing carbon. Also, do you have chloramine in your tap water? I struggled against cyano for the longest time and tried everything then found out my local water source uses cloramine. Once I added an additional stage to my RODI filter to filter that out, the cyano went away. I always know I need new filters when I start seeing cyano/algae/excessive bacterial film.


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Unread 02/10/2018, 07:10 AM   #361
rsucre
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Originally Posted by ramseynb View Post
Cyano is bacteria so you’re likely feeding it by overdosing carbon. Also, do you have chloramine in your tap water? I struggled against cyano for the longest time and tried everything then found out my local water source uses cloramine. Once I added an additional stage to my RODI filter to filter that out, the cyano went away. I always know I need new filters when I start seeing cyano/algae/excessive bacterial film.
Interesting... even if my RODI reads zero dissolved solids? What kind of filter did you add?


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Unread 02/10/2018, 03:08 PM   #362
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If the RO/DI reads zero, and it's sufficiently precise and accurate, the water should be close enough. There are exceptions: silica can pass through RO/DI to varying degrees and I'm sure there are others, but I wouldn't suspect the RO/DI much as of yet. Chloramine can be an issue in some cases, but most setups actually can handle it well enough:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-1...ture/index.htm

You could check the ammonia level in some of the RO/DI if you are very worried. In addition, getting a second opinion on the TDS meter might be useful, if that's not too hard.


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Unread 02/14/2018, 09:16 PM   #363
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Originally Posted by rsucre View Post
Interesting... even if my RODI reads zero dissolved solids? What kind of filter did you add?
Sorry for the late reply. Yes, I would get a 0 TDS reading but was still dumping ammonia in my tank by not using special carbon to filter chloramine out.

http://www.buckeyehydro.com/chloragu...-carbon-block/

Buckeye Hydro also has DIY refillable cartridges and the right type of carbon to use if you'd rather do that.


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Unread 02/14/2018, 09:34 PM   #364
rsucre
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Sorry for the late reply. Yes, I would get a 0 TDS reading but was still dumping ammonia in my tank by not using special carbon to filter chloramine out.

http://www.buckeyehydro.com/chloragu...-carbon-block/

Buckeye Hydro also has DIY refillable cartridges and the right type of carbon to use if you'd rather do that.
Hi. You place this Buckeye filter first or last? Where does it go?

My current setup has a sediment, carbon, RO, DI filters in that order. Maybe the buckeye replaces the regular carbon filter?


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Unread 02/14/2018, 10:42 PM   #365
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It should go after any filter that has a larger pore size, as a first guess. What is the rating for the current carbon block?


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Unread 02/16/2018, 10:53 AM   #366
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bertoni View Post
It should go after any filter that has a larger pore size, as a first guess.
This approach... where each successive filter has a smaller pore size is good, but it applies only to SEDIMENT FILTERS.

Assuming the sediment filter pore sizes are correct, install your carbon blocks with the HIGHEST CAPACITY block first in order of water flow.

Russ


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Unread 02/16/2018, 06:45 PM   #367
rsucre
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It should go after any filter that has a larger pore size, as a first guess. What is the rating for the current carbon block?
Hi. My filtering system is like this:

1. 1 micron sediment filter
2. 0.5 micron carbon block filter
3. Filmtec TW30-1812-50 TFC Membrane
4. Spectrapure Maxcap 1-stage resin

I get 5ppm TDS after the RO membrane and 2ppm at the end.

Questions:
1. Should I just replace the existing 0.5 micron carbon block filter with the buckeye carbon filter?
2. If not, then where should I put the new buckeye filter?


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Unread 02/16/2018, 06:48 PM   #368
rsucre
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Update.

NO3 = 0 (Red Sea)
PO4 = 0 (Hanna)
KH = 8.1 dKH

Cyano still there.
Little algae on back glass.

Still dosing 2 drops of CyanoClean per day as per instructions. Not doing anything noticeable yet.


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Unread 02/16/2018, 08:53 PM   #369
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Are the animals doing well? How thick is the cyanobacteria?


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Unread 02/16/2018, 08:56 PM   #370
rsucre
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Are the animals doing well? How thick is the cyanobacteria?


The animals are doing well. Fish, corals, hermits, all happy.

The cyano is just a brown mat over the sand bed and some film on the glass. The brown mat seems to diminish greatly at night, then comes back at daytime.


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Unread 02/16/2018, 11:52 PM   #371
bertoni
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That sounds more like dinoflagellates than cyanobacteria, or at least a mix. Dinoflagellates often show that behavior.


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Unread 02/17/2018, 07:47 AM   #372
Buckeye Hydro
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rsucre View Post
Hi. My filtering system is like this:

1. 1 micron sediment filter
2. 0.5 micron carbon block filter
3. Filmtec TW30-1812-50 TFC Membrane
4. Spectrapure Maxcap 1-stage resin

I get 5ppm TDS after the RO membrane and 2ppm at the end.

Questions:
1. Should I just replace the existing 0.5 micron carbon block filter with the buckeye carbon filter?
2. If not, then where should I put the new buckeye filter?
Are you treating water with chloramines in it?


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Unread 02/17/2018, 07:55 AM   #373
rsucre
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Are you treating water with chloramines in it?


I don’t know for sure, but we are assuming that it has chloramines. I’m having a cyano issue even with very low TDS, zero PO4 and zero NO3. Someone suggested that chloramines could be the culprit.


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Unread 02/17/2018, 07:57 AM   #374
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Originally Posted by rsucre View Post
I don’t know for sure, but we are assuming that it has chloramines. I’m having a cyano issue even with very low TDS, zero PO4 and zero NO3. Someone suggested that chloramines could be the culprit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Are you on a residential well or do you use "city water?"

Assuming you use city water, what is the name of your water utility? I'll look up your water report and see what they use as a disinfectant.

Russ


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Unread 02/17/2018, 07:58 AM   #375
rsucre
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Are you on a residential well or do you use "city water?"



Assuming you use city water, what is the name of your water utility? I'll look up your water report and see what they use as a disinfectant.



Russ


I’m in Panama and my water comes from the Miraflores plant, run by the Panama Canal Authority. “Planta de Miraflores, Autoridad del Canal de Panamá”.


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