Is all soda ash created equal?

[jasonrusso]

I'm thinking about buying this. Is it the same as the BRS stuff? Would it be better to buy baking soda or just stick with the BRS stuff?

 

[Reefahholic]

No, definitely different purity ratings, but Arm & Hammer is pretty pure. I’m sure there’s differences with potency between companies, but there’s only so much soda ash that you can dissolve into a certain volume (for max potency) before it falls out of solution. BRS Pharma is also a good choice and should be close to 5300 dKH/L.

 

[csturgis1989]

I would steer clear of this due to the unknown purities. I no longer buy BRS Soda ash and instead just buy arm & hammer sodium bicarbonate and bake it to get sodium carbonate and it’s cheap. All of this pharma grade advertisement is a bit of a gimmick for certain products imo.

 

[Acros]

I baked my first batch of Arm & Hammer baking soda to create soda ash. It is not hard or messy as I thought. Use the food grade stuff and not the cleaning/laundry grade.

 

[jasonrusso]

I would steer clear of this due to the unknown purities. I no longer buy BRS Soda ash and instead just buy arm & hammer sodium bicarbonate and bake it to get sodium carbonate and it’s cheap. All of this pharma grade advertisement is a bit of a gimmick for certain products imo.

It says 100%.

 

[csturgis1989]

It says 100%.

If you want to take the risk then use it. I can pull up a specification sheet for arm and hammer but I can’t find one for that product.

 

[jda]

You can heat up food grade bicarbonate in the oven and make carbonate. If you are worried about purity, then this might be the best way sine there are tons of food grade baking soda.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It says 100%.

That's almost meaningless, IMO. it just means they did not add anything else to it. 99.99% pure would have more meaning, IMO.

 

[jasonrusso]

That's almost meaningless, IMO. it just means they did not add anything else to it. 99.99% pure would have more meaning, IMO.

 

[jasonrusso]

Unless I send it to a lab, what else can I go on?

What is your opinion? Don't use it or would it be OK?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Unless I send it to a lab, what else can I go on?

What is your opinion? Don't use it or would it be OK?

It’s probably ok, but the reason my two part recipes start with baking soda is that food or other high grades of sodium carbonate are fairly expensive, and without that purity assurance it is more of a risk.

 

[Gtinnel]

If you can use arm and hammer baking soda that gets baked for cheaper and it has a proven track record from many reefers then why use anything else.

 

[csturgis1989]

One positive about that company is it is domestic. Looking at it from google maps they appear to be a small scale consumer packaging facility where they take bulk products and repack to small quantities, I’m assuming this based on the amount of totes they have stacked up and a few bulk tankers they have parked.

Might be a long shot but if you really want to use it you could reach out directly to the company https://www.cescosolutions.com/ and see where they source it from. The majority of the mines/manufacturers in the US are NSF certified which requires them to meet certain standards since it is being dosed to drinking water supplies NSF

 

[rtparty]

The BRS Investigates on this is well worth the watch. The dollar or two savings isn’t worth it IMO. Get a high quality soda ash that has some testing done behind it.

Or just go get Arm and Hammer and bake it. It’s not worth my time to go through that mess so I just buy it as soda ash from the beginning

 

[jasonrusso]

The BRS Investigates on this is well worth the watch. The dollar or two savings isn’t worth it IMO. Get a high quality soda ash that has some testing done behind it.

Or just go get Arm and Hammer and bake it. It’s not worth my time to go through that mess so I just buy it as soda ash from the beginning

I ended up buying another 7 pounds from BRS until I can research further.

FWIW, the BRS stuff is more than 2X more expensive. I don't use a whole lot, I was just looking for an alternative that arrives faster.

 

[rtparty]

I ended up buying another 7 pounds from BRS until I can research further.

FWIW, the BRS stuff is more than 2X more expensive. I don't use a whole lot, I was just looking for an alternative that arrives faster.

How long does the 7 pounds last you?

 

[Nano_Man]

As Randy says I follow his recommendations and it’s not let me down yet but it is your reef so you can put in what you want . I bought a tooth paste the other day said it would give me pure white teeth 100% but it didn’t still like a piano key board . I think I would go with the arm and hammer it’s been proven . Good luck