Help!

[KGtrout]

help!

80 gallon system

1.024-25 salinity
79 temp
8.0 ph
420 calcium
7.0 dkh
1500+ Magnesium
80 no3
.02 phosphates


As you can see my dkh is low and my magnesium is high. No3 is super high

They’ve always been in similar positions, everything is looking good, healthy and “normal” that said I want to start dosing vinegar because my nitrates are out of control. I don’t test a lot but I’ve been fighting GHA and I realized the nitrates were causing it.

As such I’ve started vinegar dosing along with microbactor 7 in order to get them under control.

I’d like to increase the dkh but I’m more concerned about PH as my doses of vinegar increase. Because the last time I did this my ph got dangerously low. Which I tried to fix via running my skimmer hose outside and it did help.
But my no3 got too low and I got dinos which in turn caused me to stop dosing. Killed the Dino’s by increasing phosphates and nitrates and got gha.

So in the end I’m trying to stop the rollercoaster cycle. Too high algae, too low Dino’s etc.

How do people think I should get things more stable?

Vinegar dosing, and kalkwasser? It should increase dkh as well correct?

Also I’m using gfo to lower phosphates.

I know I can use vodka to avoid ph spikes but I’m a recovering alcoholic so it’s not an option. It cannot be in my house. Sugar doesn’t sound like the best option from what I’ve read.

Also I do a 30g water change every 2-3 weeks which has done a lot to stabilize but as you can see I still have issues.

[LotsaFishies]

Yikes. Sorry to hear of your water-parameter-woes.

I don’t have much experience with dosing vinegar, vodka, or sugar.. so can’t really comment on those. But broadly speaking:

- use PH buffers or Kalswasser to increase both Alk and PH. Especially if you plan to use any vinegar. If you are using some already but still having low ph / ALK issues... increase the dosage.

- is your sand old? Old sand (say 5yrs+?) can become nutrient sinks and lead to nitrate / phosphate issues. Even if your sand isn’t old, you may want to carefully begin “gravel-vacc’ing” it to reduce detritus & excess nutrients

- are you familiar with Bryopsis? Read up on it and confirm that your GHA is ACTUALLY gha and not Bryopsis instead.

- you may want to consider non-chemical methods of nitrate removal.. Algae turf scrubbers, refugium etc

- it is better to figure out why you have such nitrate issues to begin with, rather than focusing on how to remove them. Preventative vrs reactive

[Paxis]

Dosing Kalkwasser (recommend half dose initially) solved my similar issues & I never looked back.

[skratchiechan]

If you’re going to vinegar dose DO NOT raise your alk above 8, many people experience burnt tips in sps if it goes above 8. Vinegar dosing does work for lowering your NO3. Make sure to test weekly as you bump up your dosage. I’ve maxed out at 30ml a day then I cut the dose in half after NO3 dropped to where I wanted it (10ppm) and it’s been there ever since.

[TysTanks]

Honestly, I’d just continue with manual removal of GHA and water changes. Seems like adding another set of elements to dose right now may continue your rollercoaster ride.

I’m also a big fan of refugiums as they’ve worked well (and too well) for me in the past.