Dual doser with b.baking soda??

[Steviereefs]

I have a dual doser I want to hook up this week after trying to hook it up last week and the air pump failed so now I figure it's a good time to present questions. So the way I want to do it is make a 7 day supply so initially I measured 1750ml till it's filled properly the I dissolved 7 days worth of b.baking soda in water, then I was gonna dose 50ml 5 times in a 24 period so that's 250ml per day.....:squigglemouth: can someone tell me if this sounds about right and also is the solution at the bottom of the chamber more saturated then the top??

Thanks Steviereefs

 

[mike007]

Have you tested your parameters? What is your alkalinity level? 250ml. a day of baking soda cannot be correct. You need to test your water and the determine your daily consumption rate before dosing. What size tank do you have?

 

[jedimasterben]

Make a stock solution of a known amount and dose what you need of it. It would be much easier to follow Randy's DIY recipe and only dose a few mils of it for what you need.

 

[Steviereefs]

Have you tested your parameters? What is your alkalinity level? 250ml. a day of baking soda cannot be correct. You need to test your water and the determine your daily consumption rate before dosing. What size tank do you have?

No sorry but that's 250ml of saturated solution per day, I'm using 24.626ml of baked baking soda per day. My tank is 75 gallons

 

[mike007]

I have a dual doser I want to hook up this week after trying to hook it up last week and the air pump failed so now I figure it's a good time to present questions. So the way I want to do it is make a 7 day supply so initially I measured 1750ml till it's filled properly the I dissolved 7 days worth of b.baking soda in water, then I was gonna dose 50ml 5 times in a 24 period so that's 250ml per day.....:squigglemouth: can someone tell me if this sounds about right and also is the solution at the bottom of the chamber more saturated then the top??

Thanks Steviereefs

You say here you are planning on dosing 50ml. 5 times a day 250ml. Your are using carbonate and if you dose that much in one day your ph will go through the roof. You need to test your alkalinity and then slowly bring it up to where you want it. Once there go 3 days without dosing and then test again and divide results by three. This will tell you your daily consumption. Then go to the brs reef calculator and it will tell you how much to add each day to maintain level.

 

[Steviereefs]

You say here you are planning on dosing 50ml. 5 times a day 250ml. Your are using carbonate and if you dose that much in one day your ph will go through the roof. You need to test your alkalinity and then slowly bring it up to where you want it. Once there go 3 days without dosing and then test again and divide results by three. This will tell you your daily consumption. Then go to the brs reef calculator and it will tell you how much to add each day to maintain level.

Mike sorry bud I'm a lil confused just to give you the inside and if you tell me I'm crazy I'm gonna believe you , but as of now each morning I take baked baking soda and I add 1 tbsp and 2 tsp to a cup, mix it and add it through my overflow,then top off, then I add equal parts of turbo cal,
My pH is 8.2
Alk is steady but decreasing slowly (my demand) my demand is currently 24 ml per day

I mean stuff is growing and I just wanted to split the dose throught the day to stablize any fluctuation even further . But I don't know if the b.baking soda solution at the bottom of the dosing chamber where the intake is to dose it , is it going to suck in a way too concentrated dose or is the solution from top to bottom all the same ?
Here's a pick of the tank I've been dosing every day like this but lesser in the earlier day obviously, and never had any problems.

 

[Steviereefs]

BUMP for mike007 to chirp in!!! :nerd:

 

[jedimasterben]

What is your tank's consumption in either milliequivalents or ppm of alk, and what is your total system volume?

 

[mike007]

You can mix your soda In a one gallon container beforehand so that It will dissolve. But you are confusing me. Without knowing what your alkalinity levels are how do you know how much to dose? Also are you dosing your calcium at the same time? If so you need to dose at separate Intervals about 30 minutes apart. Don't worry too much about the residual soda that falls to the bottom. But please have your water tested before dosing.

 

[Steviereefs]

What is your tank's consumption in either milliequivalents or ppm of alk, and what is your total system volume?

Hold on a sec Jedi I'm just driving home I'll give you that info in about 20

 

[Steviereefs]

You can mix your soda In a one gallon container beforehand so that It will dissolve. But you are confusing me. Without knowing what your alkalinity levels are how do you know how much to dose? Also are you dosing your calcium at the same time? If so you need to dose at separate Intervals about 30 minutes apart. Don't worry too much about the residual soda that falls to the bottom. But please have your water tested before dosing.

Thanks for chirping in Mike. I check my alk at least three times a week so I know where its at. But why should I dose them 30 min apart???

 

[Steviereefs]

What is your tank's consumption in either milliequivalents or ppm of alk, and what is your total system volume?

Hi bud sorry for the delay , I don't know how much in ppm or milliequivalent but I can put 24.626 ml of baking soda daily which is equal to one tbsp plus two tsp. I also never checked the displacement of the rock to find out the total volume but I bet it's about 70gallons total.

 

[jedimasterben]

Hi bud sorry for the delay , I don't know how much in ppm or milliequivalent but I can put 24.626 ml of baking soda daily which is equal to one tbsp plus two tsp. I also never checked the displacement of the rock to find out the total volume but I bet it's about 70gallons total.

You said above that you test your alk at least three times weekly?

 

[mike007]

Thanks for chirping in Mike. I check my alk at least three times a week so I know where its at. But why should I dose them 30 min apart???

reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/index.php

 

[Steviereefs]

You said above that you test your alk at least three times weekly?

Yeah am I missing something? I use a test kit when I check my alk usually stands somewhere between 8/9 and if I see that number start to fade towards 7 I adjust my dose accordingly and add more soda.

 

[Steviereefs]

reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/index.php

Awesome article Mike this isn't the first time you found some great info for me thanks!!!!

 

[jedimasterben]

Yeah am I missing something? I use a test kit when I check my alk usually stands somewhere between 8/9 and if I see that number start to fade towards 7 I adjust my dose accordingly and add more soda.

That's what I wanted to know. It takes five grams of sodium carbonate to bring 70 gallons of water up by 18ppm (~1dKH, 0.36meq/l). Five grams is about one teaspoon. There is no way you are adding five teaspoons and having the same effect.

If you are, indeed, dosing everything all at once, then you are precipitating out what you are dosing, eg, the calcium chloride is combining with the sodium carbonate, leaving you with calcium carbonate and sodium chloride, and calcium carbonate is not soluble in alkaline seawater.

 

[mike007]

Dosing alkalinity and calcium at the same time can cause precipitating which can cause them to fall out of solution rendering them useless. Sounds as though you have a handle on your alk. but if plan on using a dosing pump you will need to dial it in to maintain levels.

 

[Steviereefs]

That's what I wanted to know. It takes five grams of sodium carbonate to bring 70 gallons of water up by 18ppm (~1dKH, 0.36meq/l). Five grams is about one teaspoon. There is no way you are adding seven teaspoons and having the same effect.

If you are, indeed, dosing everything all at once, then you are precipitating out what you are dosing, eg, the calcium chloride is combining with the sodium carbonate, leaving you with calcium carbonate and sodium chloride, and calcium carbonate is not soluble in alkaline seawater.

Ok Jedi I'm now understanding LOL Thanks for being taking you time with me. So now I'm thinking about all this and it's making sense now my ritual has become so focused that I'm actually precipitating equal parts out every single day and only a smaller figure of that dose actually makes it to the coral .

 

[Steviereefs]

So if I start dosing calcium and alk 30 min apart with my current dose it's gonna have drastically different results.