I'm currently dosing BRS 2-part Soda Ash and Calcium in a 150gal system. Over the past month I've been monitoring and adjusting dosage amounts with a goal of 8.5-9dkh and maintain a high a PH (~8.3). I've hooked up a CO2 scrubber to my skimmer and it works great. I have a solenoid valve to regulate the PH levels.
I can't seem to maintain an Alk of above 7.5dkh when the skimmer is circulating through the scrubber. My suspicion is that the PH level in the skimmer runs really high (> 8.5?) and it precipitates out. I tested this by bringing the scrubber offline and running the skimmer as usual and I was able to maintain desired Alk levels easily. However, this drops my PH significantly (~8.0).The tank has some coral in it with a low to medium load. Dosing as much as 200ml/day has no effect on Alk when the scrubber is running (stuck at 7.5dkh). With the scrubber offline, I can maintain 8.5dkh at about 70ml/day. It's possible that the increased PH means more Alk consumption, but this seems like a pretty decent jump. Also I tested this theory a bit by testing at the same PH levels with and without the scrubber and it seemed to have a major impact.
All that is to say, I'm considering switching from Soda Ash to Sodium Bicarb. Since this is basically baking soda, I'm wondering if there's a recipe to use baking soda along with the BRS calcium chloride? It sounds like since sodium bicarbonate doesn't affect the PH it has less precipitation issues.
A few things to highlight since I know it will be asked:
- I've recently calibrated my PH probe
- MG levels are within an acceptable range (~1400)
- Calcium levels seem balanced as far as I can tell (~380)
- Using Hannah checker for Alk levels
I can't seem to maintain an Alk of above 7.5dkh when the skimmer is circulating through the scrubber. My suspicion is that the PH level in the skimmer runs really high (> 8.5?) and it precipitates out. I tested this by bringing the scrubber offline and running the skimmer as usual and I was able to maintain desired Alk levels easily. However, this drops my PH significantly (~8.0).The tank has some coral in it with a low to medium load. Dosing as much as 200ml/day has no effect on Alk when the scrubber is running (stuck at 7.5dkh). With the scrubber offline, I can maintain 8.5dkh at about 70ml/day. It's possible that the increased PH means more Alk consumption, but this seems like a pretty decent jump. Also I tested this theory a bit by testing at the same PH levels with and without the scrubber and it seemed to have a major impact.
All that is to say, I'm considering switching from Soda Ash to Sodium Bicarb. Since this is basically baking soda, I'm wondering if there's a recipe to use baking soda along with the BRS calcium chloride? It sounds like since sodium bicarbonate doesn't affect the PH it has less precipitation issues.
A few things to highlight since I know it will be asked:
- I've recently calibrated my PH probe
- MG levels are within an acceptable range (~1400)
- Calcium levels seem balanced as far as I can tell (~380)
- Using Hannah checker for Alk levels