Vinegar boost

[Rlumenator]

Has anyone tried the vinegar boost in the Kalkwasser? How much did you use, and how did it work?

 

[jandree22]

I’m interested to know what you mean by vinegar boost with Kalkwasser?! Only thing I’ve ever heard of the relationship between the two, is that vinegar is a good way to clean up (dissolve) encrusted kalkwasser in dosing drippers

 

[ChrisRD]

I tried it a few years ago and was not impressed with the results. IMO there is little benefit and a couple of potential downsides so I don't feel it's worth it. If I needed a little bit more Ca/Alk then I could get with Kalk alone, personally I would supplement the rest with a 2-part additive. That's JMO...

Here are a couple of articles that discuss vinegar use with kalkwasser in more detail:
by Craig Bingman
by Randy Holmes-Farley

HTH

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I used to do it, unsure if it was the cause but did notice significant algae levels after doing such, this is because the vinegar makes "food" when combined with the kalk.

 

[gregx]

Vinegar makes your kalk go further.

 

[Rlumenator]

Iread about this in Julian Sprung's Vol. 3 and wanted to know anyone who tried it.

 

[Anonymous]

I did it for awhile about 5 years ago when it was the rage. I saw no obvious benefit to it, so I stopped.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

I go through a lot of vinegar. It works for me, your mileage may vary.

 

[I'm Your Huckleberry]

Guy,

How much are you putting in your kalk mix?

 

[Anonymous]

I'm a bad person to ask. Whenever I'm in the basement with some spare time I run vinegar through all of the airline I use for my limewater topoff. Typically I'll add 1/2 a pint to 10 gallons of limewater. I used to have an automatic vinegar drip but I found it more useful to clean out the lines directly.

I seem to recall Dr. Holmes-Farley recommending starting at 45ml of vinegar per gallon and adding 3 teaspoons of lime per gallon instead of 2.

 

[jlneng]

I tried vinegar for a while, my tank chemistry was great but had too much Cyanobacteria algae. 2 days after I stopped using the vinegar to disolve the CAOH, my red algae started to disapear.

 

[Rlumenator]

I think that 45 ml. is too high.

 

[Anonymous]

I think that 45 ml. is too high.

No harm in starting lower. Keep in mind that most vinegar is about 95% water.

 

[impur]

I think that 45 ml. is too high.

Chemically, to get the most out of kalk, 45ml is ideal.

I used to do this as well. I ran out of vinegar one time, made up my kalk the old fashioned way, and saw no change. So i just didn't buy vinegar anymore for kalk.

 

[Nautilus1]

Adding vinegar to the Kalk allows thge water to dissolve more kalk. Kalk will precipitate out with high pH, the vinegar lowers the pH. Adding vinegar can also cause microalage to grow faster. With vinegar the alage can even grow during the night time with no light because the vinegar supplies the alage with carbon that does not need to be fixed. So there is no need for light to drive photosynthesis to supply energy for carbon fixation.

 

[Anonymous]

Plus, the vinegar provides the Hydroxide ions with CO2 (indirectly) to assist in the formation of Bicarbonate. This CO2 creation also prevents the PH from climbing as high as it otherwise would.

 

[Rlumenator]

Am I missing something- or are you talking about hair algae growing at night??

 

[Nautilus1]

Am I missing something- or are you talking about hair algae growing at night??

Yes , Hair alage will grow at night if you intoduce a source of carbon such as vinegar. Algae use energy from light to fix carbon. If the carbon does not need to be fixed and can be readily uptaken by the cell, there is no need for light.