BRS alkalinity cloudy

[shoelaceike]

I mixed it forever and put it in hot water yet it stays cloudy. Is it still ok to use? Tia

 

[nervousmonkey]

Yes. Alk is always cloudy when you add it to water. Not an issue

 

[shoelaceike]

Every other time it has mixed clear.

 

[nervousmonkey]

Mixing with warm water can help but by nature, it will appear cloudy. Its fine I promise.

 

[Blmain]

Mine mixes cloudy every time and I haven't had a problem.

 

[shoelaceike]

Thanks guys

 

[Reefanatik]

Mine was cloudy and it settled. There is a white layer on the bottom where it has separated and the top 3/4 is clear. I'm concerned about the bottom being more potent than the top and dosing different alk potency

 

[Scorpius]

I use BRS Soda Ash and it ALWAYS mixes clear for me. If it's cloudy I'd question it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Mine was cloudy and it settled. There is a white layer on the bottom where it has separated and the top 3/4 is clear. I'm concerned about the bottom being more potent than the top and dosing different alk potency

It should not be different. The settled cloudiness after good mixing is not likely sodium carbonate, unless you tried to make it more concentrated than usual. It is more likely to be insoluble things such as calcium carbonate which will not impact the tank.

 

[Reefanatik]

It should not be different. The settled cloudiness after good mixing is not likely sodium carbonate, unless you tried to make it more concentrated than usual. It is more likely to be insoluble things such as calcium carbonate which will not impact the tank.

I microwaved the mixture and there is less of the white substance at the bottom so I guess warming it up helped mixing. I did however mix the solution up before I did a manual dose and my water has stayed a bit cloudy which is bothering me. The polyp extension looks good and everything looks great nun the less. I think I will try to pour the clear solution out to another container. Also, I didn't change the mixing concentration, i used the mixture that BRS recommends. Thanks for your reply Randy

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Any chance you accidentally swapped containers?

 

[Reefanatik]

I'm not sure exactly which containers you are referring to. But either way I did not accidentally swap containers. I used the BRS soda ash, 2 cups soda ash to 1 gallon of ro/di water and mixed. After it settled I noticed the white particulates on the bottom. Then I warmed the water and shook/mixed the container and it looked to have less of the white particulates settled on the bottom. I've read that heating the water will help the mixture desolve/mix better. Using the BRS calculator, I needed to add 157 ml of the DKH solution to increase my alkalinity from 7.4 to 8.5. So I then shook the container to mix the particulates in with the rest of the solution and manually dosed 80 ml of the shaken/milky DKH solution. After that my tank has been cloudy. I'm guessing it is because I added the dose which was milky and had the shaken undiscovered particulates in it. Hope that all made sense.