Soda ash vs bicarbonate for alk dosing

[Seriak]

Just order it from Eli at caco3reef.com

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Seriak

Just order it from Eli at caco3reef.com

Thanks for the info. Didn't know he carried it.

[asylumdown]

I used to bake baking soda, but it was such a PITA to dissolve after wards. I considered trying to blend it back in to a powder to get it to dissolve better, but I was afraid of damaging the blender. I've been using straight baking soda since this tank was set up and it's gone swimmingly so far. I've never really tested pH though. Dissolves better if you add it to the hottest water you possibly can - hot water for baking soda (which is quickly cools), and icy cold water for calcium chloride, or it starts to boil. Chemistry is cool.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

I used to bake baking soda, but it was such a PITA to dissolve after wards. I considered trying to blend it back in to a powder to get it to dissolve better, but I was afraid of damaging the blender. I've been using straight baking soda since this tank was set up and it's gone swimmingly so far. I've never really tested pH though. Dissolves better if you add it to the hottest water you possibly can - hot water for baking soda (which is quickly cools), and icy cold water for calcium chloride, or it starts to boil. Chemistry is cool.

I was never good with chemistry other than mixing unknown stuffs and making tutti frutti

[mrhasan]

Bump for a question:

Alk and Ca are interrelated so I was wondering whether dosing Alk only will cause any sort of prob.....

[eli@fijireefrock.com]

of course dosing only for Alk will cause fluctuation in the rest of the tank's chemistry.
Not so much if you are only bringing the levels of Alk to par then start dosing all chemicals as to a recipe you will stick with and only adjust all levels accordingly to usage.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Elias@caco3reef.com

of course dosing only for Alk will cause fluctuation in the rest of the tank's chemistry.
Not so much if you are only bringing the levels of Alk to par then start dosing all chemicals as to a recipe you will stick with and only adjust all levels accordingly to usage.

Since my mag (1380) and ca (440) remains within the desired value in between water changes, I was thinking of not touching them. Or should both Ca and Alk be dosed at the same time?

[FragIt Dan]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

Since my mag (1380) and ca (440) remains within the desired value in between water changes, I was thinking of not touching them. Or should both Ca and Alk be dosed at the same time?

Ca and alk drop proportionately. For every degree of dKh you drop you lose about 20ppm Ca, they are simply combining in that proportion to produce Calcium Carbonate. It is possible your water changes are adding enough Ca but not enough alk to keep up, so you could just dose alk. Most of us have to dose Ca, alk and Mg in some ratio to each other to keep up between water changes.


Dan

[Proteus]

no if you dose ca and alk when only alk is low both ca and alk will rise

i tried a product that contained ca mg str. it was terrible as only one would need to be brought up

bring your alk up and keep it up you may then see a steady decline in all three elements once kept in range and stable

[mrhasan]

So, for now, dosing alk should be fine. I will keep monitoring the big three and see how it changes.

Thanks everyone