Rocks turning white

saullman · Apr 30, 2020

Little_Red_Ryan_Hood said:
Knowing that, you should get the Arm and Hammer baking soda to help keep costs down. Baking soda is cheap and will help with large adjustments. Like others have said, even though you are using baking soda for large adjustments, it would still be wise to only raise ALK by .5-1 dkh per day.

Once I pick up the baking soda from the store how do I figure out how much to dose?

Little_Red_Ryan_Hood · Apr 30, 2020

saullman said:
Once I pick up the baking soda from the store how do I figure out how much to dose?

Here is a good BRS explanation.

Use Reef calculater for Randy's recipe 2 when using baking soda.

Reef Chemistry Calculator

Little_Red_Ryan_Hood · Apr 30, 2020

saullman said:
Once I pick up the baking soda from the store how do I figure out how much to dose?

This video will tell you how to get started with dosing.

saullman · Apr 30, 2020

Ok. So I tested my levels today other than phosphates. I'm giving up on phosphates until I get a Hanna checker.
Salinity= 1.025
pH=7.8
Ammonia and Nitrite are both zero
Nitrate= 10
Magnesium= 1400 ppm
Calcium= 350 ppm
Alkalinity is the only test I'm not sure about. I have the RED Sea foundation pro test kit. I'm thinking that specific test is bad. It's about to expire in 1 month. When I run the test it is very hard to see the test change colors. I watched several videos from Red Sea and BRS and you can clearly see the test kit change colors when they do it. Anyway what I came up with is 8.4 dKH, but that measurement might not be accurate at all.

Little_Red_Ryan_Hood · Apr 30, 2020

My guess is that the test kit is bad. I think that because your Calcium is low. Usually, if a reefer is not dosing, and one of the big 2 are low, the other one will also be low. I know you are trying to save money, but I would also buy a new ALK test kit. Everything else looks good.

Scotty Buttons · Apr 30, 2020

Do you have any urchins in the tank?

saullman · Apr 30, 2020

Little_Red_Ryan_Hood said:
My guess is that the test kit is bad. I think that because your Calcium is low. Usually, if a reefer is not dosing, and one of the big 2 are low, the other one will also be low. I know you are trying to save money, but I would also buy a new ALK test kit. Everything else looks good.

Yeah, it is about to expire in 1 month anyway. I believe Red Sea makes refill kits that I can buy.

saullman · Apr 30, 2020

Scotty Buttons said:
Do you have any urchins in the tank?

No sir. I've never had one.

homer1475 · May 1, 2020

Wow are you scratching your head yet OP?

Arm and hammer baking soda is the same stuff you buy from BRS, sodium bicarbonate. They are interchangable, both basically the same with the BRS being "pharmaceutical grade"(if you believe that sort of marketing), and Arm and Hammer being, well food grade. You decide which to use, but both are the same.

You really need to google "Randy's DIY 2 part" to understand how to make the alkalinity part.

If all this is confusing the heck out of you, just buy the BRS chemicals and use them for now.

Then once you test, you take the number you have, and match it to a typical reef parameters.
Alk 7 to 11 DKH(Most keep this in the 8.5 range for a margin of error)
CAL 420 ish
MAG 1250

If your tanks numbers are lower then these values, then use this calculator to figure out how nmuch product to add:

Reef Chemistry Calculator

You can choose Randy's recipe 1 for the BRS chemicals(they based their formulation on Randy's DIY 2 part).

Easy peasy..... I know it sounds daunting, but once you wrap your head around it, it's actually pretty easy.

saullman · May 3, 2020

What saltwater do you recommend for me to buy at WWC?

saullman · May 4, 2020

Is it ok to buy distilled water from a grocery store or Walmart to mix with the soda ash and calcium chloride? I figure it would kill 2 birds with 1 Stone because then I would also get the jugs I need.

saullman · May 8, 2020

Little_Red_Ryan_Hood said:
Knowing that, you should get the Arm and Hammer baking soda to help keep costs down. Baking soda is cheap and will help with large adjustments. Like others have said, even though you are using baking soda for large adjustments, it would still be wise to only raise ALK by .5-1 dkh per day.

Question........ I bought baking soda from the store, but I don't have the other additives yet. Is it ok to dose one without the other? Or do you want to dose them all at the same time.

Little_Red_Ryan_Hood · May 8, 2020

saullman said:
Question........ I bought baking soda from the store, but I don't have the other additives yet. Is it ok to dose one without the other? Or do you want to dose them all at the same time.

You want to dose them at the same time unless there is an imbalance. If you dose the baking soda without the Calcium it will lower your Calcium more. Spread your dosing out. Dose ALK about 10-15 minutes from Calcium to avoid precipitation.

saullman · May 8, 2020

Little_Red_Ryan_Hood said:
You want to dose them at the same time unless there is an imbalance. If you dose the baking soda without the Calcium it will lower your Calcium more. Spread your dosing out. Dose ALK about 10-15 minutes from Calcium to avoid precipitation.

Got it.
Also Is it ok to buy distilled water from a grocery store or Walmart to mix with the soda ash and calcium chloride? I figure it would kill 2 birds with 1 Stone because then I would also get the jugs I need.

Little_Red_Ryan_Hood · May 8, 2020

saullman said:
Got it.
Also Is it ok to buy distilled water from a grocery store or Walmart to mix with the soda ash and calcium chloride? I figure it would kill 2 birds with 1 Stone because then I would also get the jugs I need.

I would think it is ok in the small 2 part dosing amounts. If I remember correctly, Randy Holmes Farley said he would not use distilled water for water changes, but it should be ok for the small amount added daily for 2 part usage. I don't want to speak for Randy though. If you are concerned about it, you could ask him directly..

I used distilled water for water changes in my first 14 gallon aquarium. I didn't have negative side effects. As a disclaimer, I am not a reef chemist. I have used RODI water for years. I would only recommend RODI water, but you should be ok until you can get a RODI unit. Plan to get one in the future.

saullman · May 9, 2020

Ok. Thanks for the feedback.

saullman · May 12, 2020

Little_Red_Ryan_Hood said:
You want to dose them at the same time unless there is an imbalance. If you dose the baking soda without the Calcium it will lower your Calcium more. Spread your dosing out. Dose ALK about 10-15 minutes from Calcium to avoid precipitation.

So I have the Arm & Hammer and soda ash. BRS is sold out of calcium chloride. Any ideas?