Carbon dosing Live Rock bin

Rybren · Nov 2, 2015

I have about 100lbs of live and dead rock cycling in a bin while I continue setting up my new 120G. Would there be any advantage to dosing vinegar to the bin to get the bacteria really rolling? I continue to add a bit of food to the bin every few days just to keep the rock going. The tank won't be ready for the rock for a month or so.

Thanks

psirex · Nov 2, 2015

Grab a piece of rock from a friend - the carbon dosing will take some time......

Rybren · Nov 2, 2015

About half of the rock is live the other half is marco rock. I'm just trying to supplement and fast-track the process. I'll also have a bunch of rock from my 75G, 10G and sumps that will move to the 120G system.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 2, 2015

I would not assume that organic carbon dosing drives the bacteria that form the nitrogen cycle. Those get energy from the ammonia to nitrite to nitrate conversion rather than from organic molecules. In fact, it might slow it if the bacteria consuming the organics use the ammonia present to grow.

psirex · Nov 2, 2015

See Randy knew exactly what i was getting at..... lol

Rybren · Nov 2, 2015

Thanks Randy. Out of curiosity then, which bacteria does carbon dosing promote?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 2, 2015

Rybren said:
Thanks Randy. Out of curiosity then, which bacteria does carbon dosing promote?

Well, it likely promotes a wide range of species, but primarily those that would be called heterotrophs, which just means they thrive on organic carbon as a food source.

Other types of bacteria are autotrophs (those the use sunlight for photosynthesis), which includes cyanobacteria (and algae, which are not bacteria).

The nitrogen cycle bacteria are called chemolithotrophs, which get their energy from oxidation of reduced organic compounds, such as ammonia or sulfur.

There is certainly some overlap of these types, since even autotrophs can benefit from organic carbon, but I'm not sure how well the nitrifying bacteria use organic carbon.