Baking soda = bad?

ottoman · #1 02-21-2011, 12:27 AM

May be do some research on biopellet. Some said too much carbon with high alk will cause burn tips. Some said when using biopellet, keep the alk at 7-8. Happy research and keep reading.

Bloodasp · #2 02-21-2011, 12:36 AM

Carbon reactors as far as I know should not be filled to the top, otherwise it will just cake up and practically restrict water from going through it.

chris88 · #3 02-21-2011, 01:34 AM

There is no way the baking soda had anything to do with it. 1000's of People have been using it for years with no negative effect. Carbon dosing can make coral rtn or stn and is likely the culprit.

fishytime · #4 02-21-2011, 02:13 AM

I had always used A&H baking soda as well.....told lots of peeps to do so, also......I just recently(like 5 days ago) heard that A&H contains aluminum......so I wont be using it again...

randallino · #5 02-21-2011, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishytime

I had always used A&H baking soda as well.....told lots of peeps to do so, also......I just recently(like 5 days ago) heard that A&H contains aluminum......so I wont be using it again...

That's true unless you buy the "organic" type with no aluminium.

asylumdown · #6 02-21-2011, 06:11 PM

Thanks guys. I'm totally at a loss for what's happening. Two of the colonies that are dying are ones that I've had the longest and have always done well. The only other thing I can think of is that my strontium levels are really low, I just tested and there doesn't appear to be any strontium in the water. I'll try lowering the dKH over the next few days and see if that helps anything

cwatkins · #7 02-21-2011, 09:00 PM

Could a lamp be shifting it's colour spectrum?

I toasted 2 large acro's when I didn't catch my bulbs going bad.

Willito · #8 02-21-2011, 09:00 PM

Have you tested you alk with another test kit just to be sure? I find aged alk test kits will give you false readings. Do you run any phosphate removal media in conjunction with bio pellets and carbon? If you do, be cautious, this three combination will strip your water "clean" and if all changed at the same interval, it will shock sps. Finding the right balance takes a little practice, something to think about.

Wayne · #9 02-21-2011, 10:33 PM

Personally I would shut your reactors down and do a water change till things recover. At least it will eliminate one possible source of the problem...

asylumdown · #10 02-23-2011, 07:39 PM

Just an update:

I ditched my straight baking soda dosing solution and replaced it with baking soda that had been baked at 320 degrees for a little over an hour. Sodium carbonate it a heck of a lot less soluble in water than sodium bicarbonate, it turned in to a solid block as soon as I poured it in to the water. It took nearly 20 minutes to dissolve it all.

I also did a water change and added some seachem reef buffer (which I believe is a borate based alkalinity booster), enough to bring my pH up to 8. The decline of my coral colonies appears to have stopped, with one showing marked improvement over the last couple of days.

I'm noticing that the colonies that were hardest hit are acroporas with very similar body and polyp structures, just different colours. I'm thinking they might be more sensitive to pH than the other species I have.

Now I'm going out of town for 4 days, here's hoping all my automation stuff works like it's supposed to and i don't come home to a total disaster.