Diy Alkalinity standard from Mixed Alk

[Maximitsurugi]

Hey Randy. Im in need of an Alkalinity standard but im outside the US. I see you have something about using NaOh which i have mixed to your Standard ala BRS strength that i use for my High pH Alkalinity dosing.

Is there any way to make a standard by diluting a little bit of that?

I also wonder if the High pH mix also affects Alkalinity testing.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hey Randy. Im in need of an Alkalinity standard but im outside the US. I see you have something about using NaOh which i have mixed to your Standard ala BRS strength that i use for my High pH Alkalinity dosing.

Is there any way to make a standard by diluting a little bit of that?

I also wonder if the High pH mix also affects Alkalinity testing.

You can use a sodium hydroxide solution to test an alkalinity kit, at least a normal titration test (possibly not a spectrophotometric method).

The issue is going to be how accurate you want to make it, and how sure you can be that the sodium hydroxide is dry.

 

[Maximitsurugi]

Well I just have the bulk flakes sold at the chemical store and I have a great scale. That's about it. I just want to make a seawater level standard....say 7.5 or 8 dkh in a liter of water. If possible. Incan mix larger and dilute down

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Well I just have the bulk flakes sold at the chemical store and I have a great scale. That's about it. I just want to make a seawater level standard....say 7.5 or 8 dkh in a liter of water. If possible. Incan mix larger and dilute down

We discuss DIY alk standards here:

DIY alkalinity standard

For folks who may want to evaluate the accuracy of their alkalinity test kits, here are two suggested ways to do it. One is DIY and one is a mostly commercial standard with one DIY step. Method 1 Standard solutions could be made with sodium bicarbonate, but it can be hard to be sure it hasn't...

www.reef2reef.com

If you want to use sodium hydroxide instead of sodium carbonate, you use less sodium hydroxide, so use 0.755 times the amount of sodium carbonate in that recipe.

 

[Maximitsurugi]

I was also wondering if Natural Seawater from a clean source can be stored as an Alkalinity standard. Does Alk fall off over time even if sterilized and tightly bottled?

 

[Malcontent]

Can always purchase an alkalinity standard:

TAY-R-7064-E

Taylor Alkalinity Standard 100 ppm Liquid Reagent, 16 oz

www.novatech-usa.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I was also wondering if Natural Seawater from a clean source can be stored as an Alkalinity standard. Does Alk fall off over time even if sterilized and tightly bottled?

The alk in it varies with salinity, so you'd need a good way to measure salinity. It may fall off over time if any calcium carbonate begins to precipitate.

 

[Maximitsurugi]

Thabks Randy. I appreciate it. God bless