Green Water Labs - Algae Control

[RickyV]

Has anyone used this? The ingredients say include proprietary plant extract, acetic acid, ascorbic acid, and water (less than 1% acids). I've seen some comments saying this smells like vinegar so I'm wondering if the acetic acid is what makes this work. I know reefers do vinegar dosing to feed bacteria for reducing nitrates. Could this product be working in a similar way, and the increased bacteria population helps outcompete the algae? Im assuming the ascorbic acid is used for mold since it isnt included in the main website ingredients page, i found the ascorbic acid listed on buceplant. Are there any other mechanisms in which acetic acid or ascorbic acid would help eliminate algae?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

so I'm wondering if the acetic acid is what makes this work

I'm guessing that if it does work (and I'd be in the dubious camp) that the acetic (ethanoic) acid (CH₃COOH) content isn't particularly relevant. There isn't much you can pin down from the blurb <"Algae Control">, which partially why I'm dubious.

I know reefers do vinegar dosing to feed bacteria for reducing nitrates. Could this product be working in a similar way, and the increased bacteria population helps outcompete the algae?

The vinegar (or vodka) dosing is to supply a carbon source for anaerobic denitrification (NO3- to N2O & N2) in a deep sand bed (DSB).

In the absence of oxygen, nitrate is used as the electron acceptor, <"5.9B: Nitrate Reduction and Denitrification">, but if you had enough bacteria to <"consume all the dissolved oxygen">? You wouldn't have to worry about algae or anything else .................

cheers Darrel

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

The vinegar (or vodka) dosing is to supply a carbon source for anaerobic denitrification (NO3- to N2O & N2) in a deep sand bed (DSB).

A paper has come my way that looks at this in a freshwater context, it is a wastewater paper, so it isn't entirely relevant to aquariums, but it is a "planted tank" paper:

Juan Xu, Xinxing Huang, Pei Luo, Miaomiao Zhang, Feng Liu, Runlin Xiao, Jinshui Wu, (2023) "Effect of plant-self debris on nitrogen removal, transformation and microbial community in mesocosm constructed wetlands (CW) planted with Myriophyllum aquaticum",
Journal of Environmental Management, 340, <"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479723007697">.

....... The present study investigated the effects of plant-self debris on nitrogen removal and microbial communities in mesocosm CWs planted with Myriophyllum aquaticum. During the 68-day operation, the plant debris addition did not change the mean removal efficiency of ammonium (NH4+-N) and total nitrogen (TN) of CWs but showed significant differences over the operation time. The NH4+-N and organic nitrogen released from the plant debris decomposition affected the nitrogen removal. The plant debris decreased the effluent nitrate concentration and N2O emission fluxes of the CWs with the increased abundance of denitrifying bacterial genera, indicating that plant debris decomposition increased the denitrification activities via dissolved organic carbon release. High-throughput sequencing indicated that the plant debris altered the distribution and composition of the microbial community in the sediments. Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum (28–52%), and the relative abundance of denitrifying bacteria genera was significantly higher in the sediments with debris addition (37–40%) than in the non-addition (6.6–7.7%). .......

cheers Darrel