Raising alkalinity with baking soda

[Sangin reefer]

I’ve done some research but I’m still not so sure how much to use but I’ve read that you can raise alkalinity with baking soda? 46 gallon bowfront. Any advice is appreciated.

Tested my parameters today and they are

Alk- 7.4
Calc- 490
Mag- 1520
No3- 0-5

 

[ZoWhat]

In my experience Arm&Hammer baking soda easily sends your Alk into the dangerous burning range of 13+ dKH really really really quick.

I have NO ties to Bulk Reef Supply but they sell pharmaceutical grade Soda Ash for not a lot of money with CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS on what amts to use and how often.

Go read reviews on BRS Soda Ash by Googling it.

 

[Sangin reefer]

In my experience Arm&Hammer baking soda easily sends your Alk into the dangerous burning range of 13+ dKH really really really quick.

I have NO ties to Bulk Reef Supply but they sell pharmaceutical grade Soda Ash for not a lot of money with CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS on what amts to use and how often.

Go read reviews on BRS Soda Ash by Googling it.

What about kalkwasser? Does that do the same thing?

 

[redfishbluefish]

Here's my recomendation.....make up a solution of baking soda by mixing 1 1/8 cup s of baking soda with RO/DI water to make one gallon. Use a reef calculator to determine amount to add. I used the BRS calculator HERE to determine that 66 mls (2.2 ounces), would be needed to raise alk from 7.4 to 8.4. You'll want to choose "alkalinity," " liquid sodium bicarbonate, " "jug (discontinued)" and then enter the rest of your info. Hope this helps.

 

[Sangin reefer]

Here's my recomendation.....make up a solution of baking soda by mixing 1 1/8 cup s of baking soda with RO/DI water to make one gallon. Use a reef calculator to determine amount to add. I used the BE A calculator HERE to determine that 66 mls (2.2 ounces), would be needed to raise alk from 7.4 to 8.4. You'll want to choose "alkalinity," " liquid sodium icarbonate, " "jug (discontinued)" and then enter the rest of your info. Hope this helps.

Awesome thanks man

 

[ZoWhat]

I've played around with off-the-shelf stuff like Arm&hammer and Pickling Lime Kalkwasser from Walmart...... but like you are asking..... IN WHAT AMTS?

You have NO IDEA the potency of the off-the-shelf stuff..... neither does the Mfgr. They produce this stuff in massive production runs and one "lot" could be a lot STRONGER than a "lot" made a week later.

Spend the extra$ and buy additives that are formulated from a company who makes it SPECIFICALLY for a reef tank and follow their instructions to the "T"

 

[Ghost25]

In the past I used baking soda to increase my alkalinity with no problem. I used this calculator: http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

However, I was dosing manually and I soon got an ATO and started putting kalkwasser in the ATO and I haven't looked back since.

 

[Sangin reefer]

Ok so i actually stopped by my lfs today because they had a 20% off sale and i picked up some BRS soda ash. Appreciate the advice guys. It has the mixing instructions but not the dosing amount. I guess I’ll go with that link provided above by redfishbluefish.

 

[Sangin reefer]

It says about a half a teaspoon, so do i just put that in a small amount of rodi and add it to the tank?

 

[lapin]

Read what Randy has to say about ways to alter your alk and cal, then use this
http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

 

[redfishbluefish]

Ok so i actually stopped by my lfs today because they had a 20% off sale and i picked up some BRS soda ash. Appreciate the advice guys. It has the mixing instructions but not the dosing amount. I guess I’ll go with that link provided above by redfishbluefish.

The mixing instructions should be two cups made up to one gallon with RO/DI water. Note this is twice as strong than the bicarb (baking soda) solution. With the link I provided, you'll want to pick "liquid soda ash," and " jug (discontinued). "

If you really wish to get adventurous, you can simply make your own soda ash by baking some baking soda. I talk about it HERE.

 

[redfishbluefish]

It says about a half a teaspoon, so do i just put that in a small amount of rodi and add it to the tank?

You posted this while I was typing the above....I'm a slow typer. As I mentioned above, I'd make up a stock solution of 2 cups soda ash to one gallon RO/DI. The reason is that there is greater chance of finely controlling the dose using the greater volume of the liquid solution versus the very small volume of granular soda ash.