Question about Kent Marine Superbuffer-dKH usage

Heavysledz · Mar 20, 2018

So I have a question about how to correctly use this. I figured out that I need to dose 1/4 tsp (1.25ml) daily to keep my dKH at my desired level of 9.8 to 10 which in turn keeps my PH at 8.1 to 8.2. So this isn't an issue. The issue is how to correctly mix and dose the tank correctly.

I think my issue is that I am mixing it with tank water and then putting it in the tank. When I do this, it turns the water I am mixing it in cloudy if I let it sit for more than 5 minutes. So to prevent it from clouding the tank I tried using a dropper and dripping it in manually....well this took about 45 minutes to do by hand. not something I want or plan on doing every day.

Today I did the same and mixed my 1/4 tsp (1.25ml) with 2 cups of tank water and after a few minutes the water turned cloudy. But instead of dripping it for 45 minutes, I did what the instructions stated to do which was slowly pour it into a high flow area of the tank. I very slowly poured it into my power head but it turned my DT slightly cloudy. About an hour later I noticed my snowflake clown breathing rapidly and almost sitting on the bottom of the tank. I cranked up my powerhead to get the tank circulation moving more and about 10 minutes later she started to look normal again and was swimming into the current looking for food.

This got me thinking....what am I doing wrong! So I re-read the instructions for the 100th time and it finally sunk in that the instructions say to mix the powder with "fresh water". I just assumed this meant fresh saltwater but now I am thinking it meant fresh as in NOT SALTWATER! So I experimented and mixed up another batch 1/4 tsp (1.25ml) with 2 cups of RO/DI and low and behold, it never turned cloudy even after sitting for about 20 minutes. SO I assume it remains stable in RO/DI and doesn't start to precipitate???

So I am guessing what is occurring is that since I was mixing it with water from my DT which has calcium in it, I was basically overdosing the 2 cups of saltwater with the carbonate/bicarbonate which was precipitating with the calcium and giving me the cloudy water. I assume this is not good for the fish or likely anything in the tank.

What I would like is some sense of a sanity check from all of the Reef aquarium gurus if my theory is in fact correct. And if so, is all I need to do is mix it with RO/DI and then slowly add it to the tank and I will be fine? I plan on switching to a 2 part Alkalinity and calcium dosing setup but need to wait until I can afford a good dosing pump. So was hoping to use this for now as it works and I know how much I need to dose daily to keep my dKH and PH were I want them.

Thanks in advance for any wise advise from the forum gurus

Martin Kuhn · Mar 21, 2018

There is two ways of proper dosing
A) adding the pure salt into a LARGER amount of saltwater. This means adding it to the tank!
As the material is kind of aggressive it is recommended to dose into an area of high flow -> to not harm your animals. So it gets dilluted and getting less aggressive soon.

b) Mixing with RODI and at the same Time not exceeding the solubility of the respective salt in water

Mixing in Non- RODI water: Risk of precipitation

Mixing in a small amount of salt water (Cup of Tank water)
-> Risk of exceeding saturation and precipitation

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 21, 2018

Heavysledz said:
This got me thinking....what am I doing wrong! So I re-read the instructions for the 100th time and it finally sunk in that the instructions say to mix the powder with "fresh water". I just assumed this meant fresh saltwater but now I am thinking it meant fresh as in NOT SALTWATER! So I experimented and mixed up another batch 1/4 tsp (1.25ml) with 2 cups of RO/DI and low and behold, it never turned cloudy even after sitting for about 20 minutes. SO I assume it remains stable in RO/DI and doesn't start to precipitate???

So I am guessing what is occurring is that since I was mixing it with water from my DT which has calcium in it, I was basically overdosing the 2 cups of saltwater with the carbonate/bicarbonate which was precipitating with the calcium and giving me the cloudy water. I assume this is not good for the fish or likely anything in the tank.

Yes, you are correct. They literally mean freshwater as opposed to salt water, and there are a variety of things that will precipitate if you mix into seawater.

The immediate precipitate is likely magnesium hydroxide. That one will redissolve.

The slightly slower, but much worse one to precipitate is calcium carbonate, and that won't redissolve so wastes some alk and calcium (from the tank water).

Heavysledz · Mar 21, 2018

Thanks for the feedback and confirmation on what I was thinking was going wrong....I will ensure to only mix with RO/DI as I have plenty. One question regarding stability of this in the RO/DI water. Once the powder is mixed with the water, does it remain stable for an extended period of time? I am asking so I can understand if I can mix up enough to dose say for 1 week and have it remain stable until it is dosed into the tank?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 21, 2018

Heavysledz said:
Thanks for the feedback and confirmation on what I was thinking was going wrong....I will ensure to only mix with RO/DI as I have plenty. One question regarding stability of this in the RO/DI water. Once the powder is mixed with the water, does it remain stable for an extended period of time? I am asking so I can understand if I can mix up enough to dose say for 1 week and have it remain stable until it is dosed into the tank?

Yes, it is stable in fresh water for as long as you want.