Does vinegar dosing affect water tension which affects skimmer?

[Kyle Sicard]

Hello,
Recently I've notice my skimmer isnt functioning the way it should be. I started dosing vinegar about 6-8 weeks ago and it is working as intended and dropping my nitrates. I've noticed for the last 3 weeks that my skimmer isnt skimming as much and also seems to have trouble building a foam head. The only things I dose are vinegar, calcium, and alkalinity. Does vinegar mess with water tension and in turn messes with skimmer function? From my experience usually carbon dosing makes the skimmer produce more skimmate and not less. I did observe some cloudiness this last week which my guess would be a bacterial bloom.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Distilled white vinegar? No, acetate isn't appreciable surface active. Other types of vinegar may have other organic matter that could.

 

[Kyle Sicard]

yes, I'm using public distilled white vinegar. I'll have to explore other options as to why the skimmer is being funky. I've been noticing a little cloudiness, its not much but its there. I use HW marinemix reefer salt, do you think the cloudiness could be caused by the salts organics? If I remember correctly the salt has organics added into it.