Vinegar dosing and Alk Tests

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Is the above statement due to this? 5 CH3CO2– (acetate) + 8 NO3– → 10 CO2 + 4 N2 + 13 OH– + H2O

Thanks all, really interesting to me as I was dosing both nitrate (Red Sea reliably reads zero) and vinegar in an effort to get phosphates lower (Hanna ULR reads 5-15).
Ca 440, Alk 10, pH 8.1-8.3 depending on the time, and happy with my tank

The addition of the nitrate has no effect on alk, but the consumption/metabolism of the nitrate will boost alk.

The addition of the vinegar will slightly lower alk, but the consumption/metabolism of the vinegar will add back exactly what was consumed, for no net direct effect.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

HELP****
I tested my water mix and the alk was 8 and ca was 430. That's great because that what it mixes at. Now i go and test water in my tank before the WC and alk is 9.3 and CA is steady at 430. I'm not dosing ANY alk what so ever and im daily dosing CA to keep it steady so here's my question. Why am I not using any alk at all in 7 days? NO3 is still high but I'm still upping my vinegar dose so that will come down and my PO4 is .002ish. Sps are Browning out too.

Are you seeing significant hard coral, clam, or coralline algae growth? Those are the main users of calcium and alkalinity

 

[ReefersDelite]

No growth on SPS but some coraline

 

[ReefersDelite]

Just yested my ca and alk again and ca is 420 dose daily and alk is still 9.3 with 0 dosing. sps and lps look bad but softies are fine. Could high No3 cause my alk to not deplete? Last tested it was at 5.