How long before baking soda raises alkalinity?

[Just John]

I just added some baking soda to raise the alkalinity. How long do I need to wait before testing the alkalinity again?

 

[Treefer32]

Did you dilute the baking soda in RODI (or other water then dose? Ideally its dissolved in solution then calculate the ml to raise alk. If you dosed it straight then just let it circulate for 20 minutes or so then test. That should raise it pretty quickly. Go slow or you'll raise too much.

I dose 10 ml daily of baking soda / RODI mix. I use 3/4 cup to 1.5 liters of RODI and dose 240 ml per day (10 ml per hour). This keeps my 340 gallon system at around 9-9.5 DKH. So, it really doesn't take much!

 

[Just John]

Did you dilute the baking soda in RODI (or other water then dose? Ideally its dissolved in solution then calculate the ml to raise alk. If you dosed it straight then just let it circulate for 20 minutes or so then test. That should raise it pretty quickly. Go slow or you'll raise too much.

I dose 10 ml daily of baking soda / RODI mix. I use 3/4 cup to 1.5 liters of RODI and dose 240 ml per day (10 ml per hour). This keeps my 340 gallon system at around 9-9.5 DKH. So, it really doesn't take much!

Thanks. Yes, I mixed it in rodi, calculated, etc.

 

[Treefer32]

Then I'd say test within a few minutes. It doesn't take long to get absorbed into the tank water with our flows.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes, as soon is it mixes in it's good to measure. Like food coloring added. As soon as it was all the same color it's ready to measure.