Food grade vs. pharma baking soda

[W1ngz]

Is there a difference? Like really a difference from a practical stand point?

I completely understand that food grade and pharma grades will be regulated differently, and if I were using this in a high grade lab or a medical setting, then sure, something more stringent is required. But what is the % of impurities that would be tolerated in a food grade arm and hammer box at Walmart compared to a more expensive pouch of BRS pharma or Aquaforest KH buffer? And why should I pay 4x the price?

All just marketing? Am I paying a 'fish tax' just because us aquarium snobs think fancy marketing and a pretty package makes it ambiguously 'better'?

WHY is it 'better' ? And does it make any difference at all?

 

[ludnix]

The "why" is the guarantee of lack of impurities. Some reefers have several thousand dollars invested in their reef at minimum and and literally absurd amounts of money invested in others. When you spend that much money on a reef tank it's a little silly to take chances with arm and hammer and other DIY chemistry solutions. For instance we used to use Dow Mag flakes for DIY magnesium supplements but the company has since warned against it because of their own anticipated impurities.

I think these days with ICP analysis you could very easily find out if your baking soda is causing impurities to accumulate or even test the baking soda directly. At the prices of those tests I would rather just buy a pharma grade soda ash though.

 

[W1ngz]

If someone wants to fund a pair of tricked out 10gal tanks, corals and the related ICP tests then sure, I'd run them for a few months with fancy pharma vs grocery store baking soda

 

[Foothill Corals]

Food grade is just fine.

If you have 24 minutes this should answer your question.

Six Alkalinity Supplements, One Certified ICP-MS Analysis - BRStv Investigates

Today on BRStv Investigates we share the data we received for six common choices for reef tank Alkalinity supplements, after we sent them into a certified chemical analysis lab, in hopes of answering two questions. Do USP or Pharmaceutical Grade chemicals really matter? Are commercial, off...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[W1ngz]

Facts and data! Yes!! Thanks

Food grade is just fine.

If you have 24 minutes this should answer your question.

Six Alkalinity Supplements, One Certified ICP-MS Analysis - BRStv Investigates

Today on BRStv Investigates we share the data we received for six common choices for reef tank Alkalinity supplements, after we sent them into a certified chemical analysis lab, in hopes of answering two questions. Do USP or Pharmaceutical Grade chemicals really matter? Are commercial, off...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

There can be differences (certainly in the specifications, if not in the actual purity) but both will be fine, IMO.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The "why" is the guarantee of lack of impurities. Some reefers have several thousand dollars invested in their reef at minimum and and literally absurd amounts of money invested in others. When you spend that much money on a reef tank it's a little silly to take chances with arm and hammer and other DIY chemistry solutions. For instance we used to use Dow Mag flakes for DIY magnesium supplements but the company has since warned against it because of their own anticipated impurities.

I think these days with ICP analysis you could very easily find out if your baking soda is causing impurities to accumulate or even test the baking soda directly. At the prices of those tests I would rather just buy a pharma grade soda ash though.

You are spreading misinformation.

Do you even know what food grade means? It is a very specific set of specifications must be met. Same for pharmacy grade. Unless you know the exact difference, and have a reason to care about that difference, it seems inappropriate to bash one over the other.

As to mag flake, there is no data (and never has been) to suggest any problem with MAG flake from the Dead Sea Works. Their warning is not because there are demonstrated impurities, but likely because they sell a much more expensive tested material to salt mix makers and do not guarantee the cheap stuff to be appropriate for that use. They also likely have no idea what is even needed in a supplement, as opposed to a salt mix. The criteria is far less stringent.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Here's the way I see it. I live in the New York metropolitan area. I could drive a Maserati GT or a Honda HRV, and with the congestion, they would both get me to my destination in the same amount of time. The only difference is that the Maserati would cost a whole bunch more.

I've been using Randy's two part for over 14 years....Prestone Driveway Heat and Arm & Hammer baking soda....and very much enjoy my Honda HRV. Both get me to where I want to go with very little money.

if you enjoy driving a 150K car in bumper to bumper traffic, Pharma grade is for you.

 

[W1ngz]

I
could drive a Maserati GT or a Honda HRV,

I definitely agree. Unfortunately there are many who automatically equate expensive with better, when it’s not always or even very rarely the case.

 

[W1ngz]

Prestone Driveway Heat

If that stuff works for you, great. However I work for a place that mixes and bags magflake and other ice melters in the off season. It comes off the same conveyors and mixers as commercial lawn and crop fertilizers do in the spring/summer. I wouldn’t put it in my tank after seeing where it’s been. It’s literally piled up in a 3 sided bin next to the chicken poo and urea.

 

[ludnix]

You are spreading misinformation.

Do you even know what food grade means? It is a very specific set of specifications must be met. Same for pharmacy grade. Unless you know the exact difference, and have a reason to care about that difference, it seems inappropriate to bash one over the other.

As to mag flake, there is no data (and never has been) to suggest any problem with MAG flake from the Dead Sea Works. Their warning is not because there are demonstrated impurities, but likely because they sell a much more expensive tested material to salt mix makers and do not guarantee the cheap stuff to be appropriate for that use. They also likely have no idea what is even needed in a supplement, as opposed to a salt mix. The criteria is far less stringent.

I apologise, I did not mean to spread misinformation or bash the DIY methods. I have used your recipes on my own tanks for the past ten years. I think I repeated the marketing point that the OP was already aware of rather than the data they were looking for.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Is there a difference? Like really a difference from a practical stand point?

I completely understand that food grade and pharma grades will be regulated differently, and if I were using this in a high grade lab or a medical setting, then sure, something more stringent is required. But what is the % of impurities that would be tolerated in a food grade arm and hammer box at Walmart compared to a more expensive pouch of BRS pharma or Aquaforest KH buffer? And why should I pay 4x the price?

All just marketing? Am I paying a 'fish tax' just because us aquarium snobs think fancy marketing and a pretty package makes it ambiguously 'better'?

WHY is it 'better' ? And does it make any difference at all?

I've use baking soda, and baked baking soda, from Arm & Hammer. I've used on some of the most delicate and challenging corals, dendronephthya colonies, carnation corals

1 of 29 carnations, counted today. Have other NPS corals with them

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I apologise, I did not mean to spread misinformation or bash the DIY methods. I have used your recipes on my own tanks for the past ten years. I think I repeated the marketing point that the OP was already aware of rather than the data they were looking for.

Ok, thanks.