Vinegar to lower Alk in IO salt?

[baslewprime]

I've read you can lower the alk in IO salt by adding some muratic acid.

Could you do the same by adding some vinegar to your saltwater mix, or will that cause issues with carbon dosing or introducing organics into the mix?

tank parameters with 2part dosing.

alk 9.0
cal 430
mag 1480

fresh mixed water with IO salt.

alk 11
cal 375
mag 1280

 

[rmurken]

Vinegar is a carbon source that bacteria convert to...wait for it...alkalinity. So it might drop your Alk in the short term, but the acetate gets turned into alkalinity, so at least some of the alkalinity would return.

Whether the initial acid-base destruction of carbonate by the vinegar takes out more Alk than microbial metabolism of acetate adds, well, I don’t know. Maybe someone can help with the stoichiometry.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Correct that it won’t work. Once metabolized it has no impact on alk.

The only suitable acids are mineral acids: muriatic/hydrochloric, sulfuric, and sodium bisulfate.

 

[baslewprime]

Correct that it won’t work. Once metabolized it has no impact on alk.

The only suitable acids are mineral acids: muriatic/hydrochloric, sulfuric, and sodium bisulfate.

What if I make water change with those parameters?

Will it shock my tank?

 

[rmurken]

What if I make water change with those parameters?

Will it shock my tank?

How much water is in your system and how big is your WC?

 

[baslewprime]

How much water is in your system and how big is your WC?

my tank it is of 40g and the WC will be of 10g (25%)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What if I make water change with those parameters?

Will it shock my tank?

not unless the water change is pretty large. A 10% change with 11 dKH water in a tank at 8 dKH only boosts alk to 8.3 dKH.

 

[dwest]

my tank it is of 40g and the WC will be of 10g (25%)

I used to do 25% monthly water changes with IO when my system (with similar alkalinity as yours) was mostly lps and softies without issues. When I got more acros, I switched to smaller 10% changes weekly without issues. Now I do daily AWC. All can work, but you need to understand what you are keeping.

 

[Dkeller_nc]

There's one particular reason to either switch salts or acquire the necessary mineral acid to adjust your salt's alk. That's for emergency purposes - there are occasions where you might really need to change 50 - 75% of the water in the tank, such as a big plumbing leak, a large creature dies and pollutes the water, a carbon dosing overdose, a 2-year old thinks the fish are thirsty and pours orange juice in the tank, etc...