Can I use this to bump up my Alkalinity?

[Dom]

 

[nereefpat]

Looks to be food grade baking soda, so yes.

But it will take you an awful long time to go through that, unless you work for the Shedd Aquarium.

 

[Justdrew]

Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda (15 lbs.) - Samsclub.com

Buy Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda (15 lbs.) at Samsclub.com

www.samsclub.com

About 1/3 the price/lb and will last a long time.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Agree with @Justdrew .....Sam's Club large Arm & Hammer Baking Soda. This is what I do, and that size will last for years. I follow Randy Holmes Farley recipe baking 2 1/4 cups at 350 for an hour to convert to sodium carbonate and then mix up to one gallon with RO/DI water. Between calcium and alkalinity, I spent less than five bucks a year to dose my tank.

Anyway, to directly answer your question, YES, that would work as well....a life time supply!

 

[Dom]

I agree with the comments here.

I have a tank whose total volume is 145 gallons.

I've been dosing 10ml daily of Foundation A to maintain Calcium; it has been steady at 460 for several weeks.

My ALK has been steady at 7.0 over that same period of time. I've also been dosing 40ml Foundation B daily in an effort to get it up to 8.5 as the low ALK is affecting the Anemones in the tank. I started at 10ml.

I was looking at this as a way of increasing my ALK as t looks to be more cost effective, especially with all the Foundation B I'm using and still not getting an ALK increase.

 

[nereefpat]

My ALK has been steady at 7.0 over that same period of time. I've also been dosing 40ml Foundation B daily in an effort to get it up to 8.5 as the low ALK is affecting the Anemones in the tank. I started at 10ml.

Playing around with this calculator: https://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html
40 mLs of Foundation B in 145 gallons is about 0.7 dKH worth. That's a reasonable consumption.
If you want to raise alk from 7 to 8.5 with Foundation B, it would take about 80 mLs. So you could leave your doser as it is, and manually add 80 mLs over the course of a couple days.

I was looking at this as a way of increasing my ALK as t looks to be more cost effective, especially with all the Foundation B I'm using and still not getting an ALK increase.

Making your own alk solution with baking soda is definitely cheaper than buying Foundation B. It looks like that stuff is 20 bucks for 500 mLs worth, which you are going through every 12 days...yeah that would be really financially silly to keep doing it that way.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Unless you need a lot, just use Arm and Hammer baking soda from a grocery store.

 

[twentyleagues]

I dont know if its frowned upon now or not (I havent done much research into this yet). I used to use soda ash to boost alk. You can get it in bulk for neutralizing battery acid. I got a 25lb bag for $15. You have to keep it completely sealed or it will turn into a brick. I used it for a little over 2 years with no bad or noticeably ill effects. Not saying you should do it for sure just a cheap option if your consumption is getting the better of you.

 

[nereefpat]

I dont know if its frowned upon now or not (I havent done much research into this yet). I used to use soda ash to boost alk.

Not frowned upon at all. Soda ash is sodium carbonate or washing soda. It will raise alk.

 

[Dom]

Playing around with this calculator: https://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html
40 mLs of Foundation B in 145 gallons is about 0.7 dKH worth. That's a reasonable consumption.
If you want to raise alk from 7 to 8.5 with Foundation B, it would take about 80 mLs. So you could leave your doser as it is, and manually add 80 mLs over the course of a couple days.


Making your own alk solution with baking soda is definitely cheaper than buying Foundation B. It looks like that stuff is 20 bucks for 500 mLs worth, which you are going through every 12 days...yeah that would be really financially silly to keep doing it that way.

My dosing method:

I fill a 1000ml flask with RODI. Placing it on a magnetic stirrer, I add 10ml Foundation A and 40ml of Foundation B.

I dose right from the flask using a gravity drip. It takes about 3 hours to empty the contents.

If I use baking soda, don't I have to bake it first?

 

[cpschult]

Agree with @Justdrew .....Sam's Club large Arm & Hammer Baking Soda. This is what I do, and that size will last for years. I follow Randy Holmes Farley recipe baking 2 1/4 cups at 350 for an hour to convert to sodium carbonate and then mix up to one gallon with RO/DI water. Between calcium and alkalinity, I spent less than five bucks a year to dose my tank.

Anyway, to directly answer your question, YES, that would work as well....a life time supply!

What do you use for calcium?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My dosing method:

I fill a 1000ml flask with RODI. Placing it on a magnetic stirrer, I add 10ml Foundation A and 40ml of Foundation B.

I dose right from the flask using a gravity drip. It takes about 3 hours to empty the contents.

If I use baking soda, don't I have to bake it first?

I'm not sure if this is what you mean, but red Sea foundation A and B should NOT be mixed outside the aquarium or you will likely precipitate calcium carbonate. That's why they are separate solutions to begin with.

If you want a pH boost, bake the baking soda. if not, you don't need to bake it. Most people benefit from a pH boost.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I dont know if its frowned upon now or not (I havent done much research into this yet). I used to use soda ash to boost alk. You can get it in bulk for neutralizing battery acid. I got a 25lb bag for $15. You have to keep it completely sealed or it will turn into a brick. I used it for a little over 2 years with no bad or noticeably ill effects. Not saying you should do it for sure just a cheap option if your consumption is getting the better of you.

The only concern is the purity, and hence the desirability of food grade.

That's also why I devised the baking procedure, since food grade sodium bicarbonate is inexpesnive and food grade sodium carbonate is (or was) not so readily available.

 

[redfishbluefish]

What do you use for calcium?

A calcium chloride ice melt product.....originally Preston Driveway Heat which is now called SWI Winter Heat.....both from Scotwood Industries. This is an anhydrous calcium chloride and only requires 2 cups per gallon to make up a solution.

 

[Dom]

What do you use for calcium?

Foundation A for Calcium and B for ALK.

 

[cpschult]

A calcium chloride ice melt product.....originally Preston Driveway Heat which is now called SWI Winter Heat.....both from Scotwood Industries. This is an anhydrous calcium chloride and only requires 2 cups per gallon to make up a solution.

F. I went to my ace hardware last weekend and they had put all the salts away.

 

[Dom]

I'm not sure if this is what you mean, but red Sea foundation A and B should NOT be mixed outside the aquarium or you will likely precipitate calcium carbonate. That's why they are separate solutions to begin with.

If you want a pH boost, bake the baking soda. if not, you don't need to bake it. Most people benefit from a pH boost.

I'm guessing this is why the two combined in the mixing flask turned everything milk white?

 

[nereefpat]

I'm guessing this is why the two combined in the mixing flask turned everything milk white?

Yes. Both a color change and precipitation are signs of a chemical reaction.

 

[Dom]

So it would appear that my low ALK issue is part of a bigger issue.

Some background info:

This is my first "large" tank. It is 125 gallons with 20 gallons in the sump for a total volume of 145 gallons.

I have always been able to rely on water changes to keep my tank chemistry in line. But logistically, weekly 20% water changes on 145 gallons is not practical, so, dosing this tank is necessary.

The corals and Anemones have an underwhelming appearance. In my experience, I've found that deflated Anemones are an indicator of low ALK. And when I tested, this was true; my ALK was sitting at 6.5dkh.

Digging deeper, I found that my salinity dropped to 33ppt, which isn't the end of the world. I attributed this drop to added water volume secondary to dosing.

These are my current parameters (tested today):

Temperature: 76.6 degrees F.
Salinity: 35ppt.
pH: 7.42 (up from 7.12 since I started baking soda)
Calcium: 440
ALK: 12
MAG: 1410

So I went from having low ALK to high ALK.

I'm using cooked baking soda to get the pH boost. But its also raising my ALK.

I'm all over the place with this, and I feel I'm making things worse.

Any guidance?

 

[nereefpat]

Alk at 6.5 dKH is lower than most of us keep it, but not dangerous. Seawater is around 7. 12 is unnaturally high, but some reefers keep high alk.

I would probably quit measuring pH. I don't believe 7.12, as that's not possible in saltwater with any amount of alkalinity.