aquavitro eight.four: magic, snake oil, or just a buffer?

[MoshJosh]

My pH is fairly chronically 7.9 or less. I have a refugium that runs opposite my display so I assume there is some variance between day and night. On multiple occasions my LFS has recommended I start using aquavitro eight.four. They claim it will maintain pH at 8.4 while also prevent it from going any higher? If true that would be amazing! But is it true?

Anyone using this?

Can or should it be dosed on a pump?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The claim is absurd. It is nothing more than a mix of baking soda (bicarbonate) and washing soda (carbonate) that has the same ratio of bicarbonate to carbonate as seawater does at pH 8.4 (which is mostly bicarbonate).

The kernel of truth in The claim is that it always drives the pH toward 8.4, but if your pH is 7.8, it won’t get you there and using carbonate alone will get you closer.

If you need a pH boost, it is a poorer choice than washing soda alone.