Baking Soda doesn’t dissolve?

[PotatoPig]

I’m trying to make an Alk mix using baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and trying to dissolve about 100g in 1L of water and… it won’t.

There’s just a bunch of undissolved sediment in the bottom of the container no matter how much I shake it up or how long I leave it.

Is there a trick here or am I doing something wrong?

 

[Miami Reef]

Why did you add 100g in a liter? The standard 2 part concentration with sodium bicarbonate is 297g per gallon or 78.5g per liter.

Baking soda is not easily soluble in water, especially when comparing it to sodium carbonate (soda ash). That’s why the recipe is the way it is.

You might need to heat up the solution to get the remaining to dissolve. I don’t know if it will completely dissolve without adding more water.

 

[PotatoPig]

Why did you add 100g in a liter?

I guess I’m trying to be too clever. Trying to mix it up so 1ml per gallon raises Alk by 1 to simplify math.

Eg: Volume = 80 gallons. If I want to raise Alk by 0.5 I’d add 40ml

 

[Ziggy17]

Even at the correct gram per litre recipe I had the same issue. I started using an immersion blender and it works perfectly. What’s also nice is that the blender fits into my dosing containers, so I just do all the mixing in there. Works great for AFR as well.

Hope that helps.

 

[VintageReefer]

I’m trying to make an Alk mix using baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and trying to dissolve about 100g in 1L of water and… it won’t.

There’s just a bunch of undissolved sediment in the bottom of the container no matter how much I shake it up or how long I leave it.

Is there a trick here or am I doing something wrong?

My kh guardian doses diy sodium bicarbonate mix that I make. The ratio of calls for is 65g per 1L rodi

Mixes fine for me

Here’s a blurb from the manual maybe it makes sense


S.Raise KH ml/L ability:
the solution raise KH for ml / L ability. This means that whether or not any KH lift solution is used, please provide how much dKH can be increased by 1 L (1000 cc) of seawater per ml (cc) for this lift solution.The default is 2.17, because KHG recommends a 65g / 1L baking soda solution, and this baking soda solution can lift a liter of seawater 2.17dKH.

 

[VintageReefer]

Even at the correct gram per litre recipe I had the same issue. I started using an immersion blender and it works perfectly. What’s also nice is that the blender fits into my dosing containers, so I just do all the mixing in there. Works great for AFR as well.

Hope that helps.

you just cost me $35

Checking out on Amazon now.

Great idea!

 

[Clownfishy]

This is interesting, I too have been missing 99g to a litre of RO water. It does mix to that strength but I guess I have been doing it wrong for a long time. Thing is I am having to dose way more alk than cal (38ml alk to 28ml cal in a 75l nano) so I am guessing if I drop mixing 78.5g to a litre, the strength drops so will need to dose even greater amounts?

 

[gbroadbridge]

I’m trying to make an Alk mix using baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and trying to dissolve about 100g in 1L of water and… it won’t.

There’s just a bunch of undissolved sediment in the bottom of the container no matter how much I shake it up or how long I leave it.

Is there a trick here or am I doing something wrong?

The solubility is 96 grams per litre at 20 Celsius (68 F).

Most published dosing recipes are significantly less than that.

If you wish a more concentrated solution, bake the Baking Soda in an oven first to make Sodium Carbonate, and you can then make a much 'stronger' solution which will also give a pH boost.

There are some recipes in this thread.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/randy-recommended-diy-two-part-recipes.984604/

 

[Ziggy17]

you just cost me $35

Checking out on Amazon now.

Great idea!

Haha, between BBQ tongs with toothbrushes zip tied to them, turkey basters, plastic brushes zip tied to tubing, immersion blender, and meat thermometer, I have a second kitchen going in my maintenance drawer…..

 

[PotatoPig]

The solubility is 96 grams per litre at 20 Celsius (68 F).

Most published dosing recipes are significantly less than that.

If you wish a more concentrated solution, bake the Baking Soda in an oven first to make Sodium Carbonate, and you can then make a much 'stronger' solution which will also give a pH boost.

There are some recipes in this thread.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/randy-recommended-diy-two-part-recipes.984604/

Ahh, I think next time I’ll just mix up at half concentration. Thank you

 

[Clownfishy]

The solubility is 96 grams per litre at 20 Celsius (68 F).

Most published dosing recipes are significantly less than that.

If you wish a more concentrated solution, bake the Baking Soda in an oven first to make Sodium Carbonate, and you can then make a much 'stronger' solution which will also give a pH boost.

There are some recipes in this thread.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/randy-recommended-diy-two-part-recipes.984604/

How many gramms should you add to 1litre of RO water if it has been baked?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

How many gramms should you add to 1litre of RO water if it has been baked?

Baked or not baked, my recipes are here:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php