How to use acid for alk.

[Wildreefs]

So my tank is about 10.5 to 11 alk. I want to try and get it down to 9 over time.

50 gallon tank, 10 gallon water changes.
I want to get new mix up water to 9. From my understanding, I would use about 2 ml of muriatic acid.

I can keep acid outside, but how do I measure 2 ml? Plastic syringe?

How long must i aerate it aggressively to bring back up ph? Will 3-4 hours do it?

Lastly,
Does it matter which acid I buy? Going to pool store, hope they have it.

Thanks

 

[landlubber]

I used to bring down my alkalinity using Muriatic Acid using a formula I found online but I don't seem to have it anymore. 4 hours was probably the quickest I ever used the treated water and never had any notable drop in pH on my apex but I'd normally go overnight if I could.
As for drawing it from the container I had the same concerns with plastics so I just ordered a couple of long glass pipettes off of amazon for dirt cheap.

 

[Phil85]

Could you use up the remaining salt and then change to one which better matches the levels you’re trying to keep? That way you wouldn’t have to handle acids before every water change.

 

[ScottR]

What salt are you using?

 

[landlubber]

So my tank is about 10.5 to 11 alk. I want to try and get it down to 9 over time.

50 gallon tank, 10 gallon water changes.
I want to get new mix up water to 9. From my understanding, I would use about 2 ml of muriatic acid.

I can keep acid outside, but how do I measure 2 ml? Plastic syringe?

How long must i aerate it aggressively to bring back up ph? Will 3-4 hours do it?

Lastly,
Does it matter which acid I buy? Going to pool store, hope they have it.

Thanks

I just stumbled across the formula I mentioned using in case you're interested. In this example I'm using H2Ocean salt.

How to mix muriatic acid:

1. H20cean dKH
- Tank dKH
——————
= “X”

2. “X” multiplied by # of gallons being prepared. Then multiply by .123

= mL’s of acid

I did my best to store it properly, measure accurately, always wore safety glasses + nitrile gloves and handled the acid as if it were a radioactive bomb and in the end things seemed to always work out fine.

 

[Wildreefs]

Instant ocean.

Would a regular old plastic syringe cut measuring 2 ml? Or do I need something stronger?

 

[landlubber]

Instant ocean.

Would a regular old plastic syringe cut measuring 2 ml? Or do I need something stronger?

I can't say for sure as I wasn't willing to find out the hard way. glass is safe and a 50mL pipette is over 12" long giving you plenty of space between your hands and the acid.

 

[MnFish1]

Either way works but as some others have said maybe the simplest would be to use a salt mix that is appropriate for your tank. Ie the alkalinity you want. It seems like you must not have a high alkalinity demand so using a lower alkalinity salt seems to make sense. It avoids a ton of measuring, and possible errors with a somewhat dangerous chemical.

 

[Softhammer]

Buy more corals and forget about it.

 

[EMeyer]

Plastic pipettes and tubes are generally fine for exposure to acids. We store concentrated acids in glass long term, but short term use of plastics is no problem.

Someone asked, why not just buy a different salt mix? The salt mixes that mix at normal ocean alkalinity cost twice as much as Instant Ocean Thats why I use IO and add acid...

 

[topjimmy]

Any reason you can't let it come down naturally?

 

[MnFish1]

I guess I have 2 questions - whats the goal of 'getting the alk down to 9 eventually'? There is no benefit to adding acid to a salt mix most salts mix to 8.5 - 11. Second - what is your time worth - the acid, the risk of a mistake, etc - as compared to just paying some more (not all salts are double the price that mix to a lower alk)?

 

[Softhammer]

I joke, but because of this I did some testing and am in the same boat. My corals are severely agitated when I do sizeable water change with Tropic Marin. Alk 10. Tip burn in my tank occurs at anything above 9 it seems. I have a monstrous bio load, literally 40+ lbs of clams plus 120 sps corals. Rather than salvage a bucket of salt via acid, I’m just going switch to a lower Alk brand. Tropic Marin Pro reef fits the bill at Alk 7.something. I still think all the salts are still great but the whole dosing revolution has really changed the game, and seriously stepped it up to a new level. A high Alk salt really isn’t doing anyone any favors for the modern reef.

 

[MnFish1]

I joke, but because of this I did some testing and am in the same boat. My corals are severely agitated when I do sizeable water change with Tropic Marin. Alk 10. Tip burn in my tank occurs at anything above 9 it seems. I have a monstrous bio load, literally 40+ lbs of clams plus 120 sps corals. Rather than salvage a bucket of salt via acid, I’m just going switch to a lower Alk brand. Tropic Marin Pro reef fits the bill at Alk 7.something. I still think all the salts are still great but the whole dosing revolution has really changed the game, and seriously stepped it up to a new level. A high Alk salt really isn’t doing anyone any favors for the modern reef.

I agree - part of the problem is 'sizable water changes'. I try to keep my alk at 8 or so - and my salt mixes somewhat higher.

 

[GThompson]

Instant ocean.

Would a regular old plastic syringe cut measuring 2 ml? Or do I need something stronger?

It’s stored in plastic bottles. So yes a plastic syringe will work

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The little squeeze plastic pipettes in many kits are polyethylene and are fine.

 

[Wildreefs]

How about the syringes that are of hard plastic, often seen in test kits? Particularly, the 5 ml, 10 ml one in the Red Sea test kit.

Looks like the kind you’d buy from any pharmacy if you were to “nurse” a small animal back to health.

 

[Wildreefs]

It’s stored in plastic bottles. So yes a plastic syringe will work

Some muriatic acid companies referenced their gallon jug being “acid” safe, which to me implies certain plastics may not be etc

 

[Wildreefs]

I guess I have 2 questions - whats the goal of 'getting the alk down to 9 eventually'? There is no benefit to adding acid to a salt mix most salts mix to 8.5 - 11. Second - what is your time worth - the acid, the risk of a mistake, etc - as compared to just paying some more (not all salts are double the price that mix to a lower alk)?

Bought several boxes of IO. It’s been mixing up at 11 dkh. I’ve gotten new frags coming from a system of 8, to my 11, and rtn a few days later.

Many people have said sps sweet spot is 8-9. Just trying to rule it out.

A gallon of acid cost me $5. I added literally 2 cents worth per water change.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

How about the syringes that are of hard plastic, often seen in test kits? Particularly, the 5 ml, 10 ml one in the Red Sea test kit.

Looks like the kind you’d buy from any pharmacy if you were to “nurse” a small animal back to health.

I expect it is fine. Most that I googled are polystyrene which is fine.