High PH Alk formula

Saintnovakai · Apr 26, 2019

Hey Randy and fellow reefers, just a quick question.

Can I dose only the Alk part (Sodium Hydroxide/ Lye) and leave the Calcium chloride that I use from BRS as is?

I don't really want to mess with the Calcium aspect as its difficult finding the ingredients in Jamaica. I know some sulfatesis addedato the Alk to balance chloride but im unsure if this is necessary if I don't use the Calcium/Magnesium part. Thanks guys.

Flippers4pups · Apr 27, 2019

Yes you can. Another way of doing it is to buy sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, not baking powder!) bake it in a oven at 400 degrees for roughly 45 mins to a hour. This takes the C02 out and makes it more potent. Turns it into sodium carbonate or "soda ash".

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

Using this calculator:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

Saintnovakai · Apr 27, 2019

Flippers4pups said:
Yes you can. Another way of doing it is to buy sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, not baking powder!) bake it in a oven at 400 degrees for roughly 45 mins to a hour. This takes the C02 out and makes it more potent. Turns it into sodium carbonate or "soda ash".

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

Using this calculator:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

I'm actually looking at Randy's new High PH formula using Lye instead of soda ash. It has an added sulfate component that I can't get easily here so I'm wondering if it's necessary if I don't use the Calcium part of the dosing mix.

Flippers4pups · Apr 27, 2019

Oh yeah, forgot about that! Yes, it's okay to do so.

Saintnovakai · Apr 27, 2019

Flippers4pups said:
Oh yeah, forgot about that! Yes, it's okay to do so.

So just the Alk then? Good. Do I neeeeeed the sulfate part in the Naoh mix?

JimWelsh · Apr 27, 2019

This is the recipe/thread you are looking for: Second New DIY Two Part Recipe with Higher pH Boost

Saintnovakai · Apr 27, 2019

JimWelsh said:
This is the recipe/thread you are looking for: Second New DIY Two Part Recipe with Higher pH Boost

I saw the recipe but I wasn't sure if the sulphate was to counteract something in the Calcium/magnesium part of the 2 part or I absolutely needed to mix sulphate into the Sodium hydroxide mix. I'm having difficulty getting the sulphate locally.

JimWelsh · Apr 27, 2019

There are two high-pH recipes:

#1 is the one I linked, which is based on Randy's famous "Improved two-part", which is essentially the same as BRS, but isn't really a "two part" because it has three parts; there is also the magnesium part that you periodically dose in order to keep both the magnesium and also the sulfate-to-chloride ratio in balance.

#2 is based on a DIY true 2-part that I came up with. It puts all the components of Randy's recipe into just two solutions by using sodium sulfate in the alkalinity part and magnesium chloride in the calcium part.

The recipe I linked above (#1) does exactly what you want to do. Use it.