Equal 2-part dosing with Sodium Bicarb and Soda Ash being different concentrations? | #AskBRStv

[randyBRS]

Hey guys!

Had a great question over on FB about equal two part dosing and whether it is based on using Sodium Bicarbonate solution versus Soda Ash solution, so we did a quick #AskBRStv about the differences.

 

[hawkeye792001]

Do they both accomplish the same goal to increase alkalinity? I bought the sodium bicarbonate a while back when my tank first started to use more alk than kalkwasser could keep up with.

 

[cpschult]

Do they both accomplish the same goal to increase alkalinity? I bought the sodium bicarbonate a while back when my tank first started to use more alk than kalkwasser could keep up with.

Yeah. Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is just more diluted thanks to water. Soda ash is essentially baked baking soda. They cook it to drive off water. It concentrates it more.

Both will raise alk. Soda ash is more concentrated.

 

[Racecars&reeftanks]

Does calcium or soda ash become less potent over time? I recent set up a coral frag system and had a gallon of the old brs soda ash and calcium already mixed. It had been mixed for over a year and sitting in a sealed jug in my closet. I'm only asking because with my daily testing my dkh. Drops from 8.5 to about 6.8 daily and I'm currently dosing 30 ml of bra 2 part and have to increase that amount by 15ish ml. Daily. At this rate I will be dosing 80ml daily by the end of the week. There is only 10 frags in the system. Only two are sps. 6 Lps. AMD 2 softies.

 

[randyBRS]

Does calcium or soda ash become less potent over time? I recent set up a coral frag system and had a gallon of the old brs soda ash and calcium already mixed. It had been mixed for over a year and sitting in a sealed jug in my closet. I'm only asking because with my daily testing my dkh. Drops from 8.5 to about 6.8 daily and I'm currently dosing 30 ml of bra 2 part and have to increase that amount by 15ish ml. Daily. At this rate I will be dosing 80ml daily by the end of the week. There is only 10 frags in the system. Only two are sps. 6 Lps. AMD 2 softies.

So long as it was completely sealed and you didn't see precipitate at the bottom of the container, there should be no change in the concentration. I'd be more so concerned with the nearly 2.0dKH drop in your tank on a daily basis with the seemingly low demand. At that rate of consumption I would guess that the Alk is being precipitated in the tank. I would triple check (multi test) the Alk level with your test kit and average them together to verify the drop, or even bring in another test kit to verify the results, as well as test at the same time of day for each test. One of the easiest ways I've used to determine if my 2-part is precipitating is to check the heaters for "crust" developing on them.