New DIY Two Part Recipes with Higher pH Boost

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Randy thanks for your help one more question I got the sodium hydroxide ordered for the alk can I use the BRS calcium chloride bags used to mix in a gallon of water for my calcium a well as magnesium mix for dosing I have a few bags of that laying around thanks again

yes, you just use this sodium hydroxide in place of the soda ash.

 

[Cassklar]

thank you for your help

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

thank you for your help

You're welcome.

Happy reefing.

 

[Cassklar]

Sorry randy another question can I make the concentration stronger if needed with this recipe as well thanks again

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sorry randy another question can I make the concentration stronger if needed with this recipe as well thanks again

yes, but dosing stronger enhances the need for adding it to a very high flow area with hood volume turnover.

 

[BigMax]

yes, you just use this sodium hydroxide in place of the soda ash.

Randy, question for you regarding soda ash.... Thanks for all the help!

I plan to use baking soda as outlined. If I were to bake 5-6 pounds at a time and then store in a sealed container (tupperware) will it maintain 5-6 months of shelf life? Also, I assume 300 degrees for an hour is still acceptable and a layer 1" high on a baking sheet is OK as well?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’d plan to bake it more (like a turkey, it can take a long time to hit 300 deg F in the middle) and it cannot be over baked at home.

 

[Cassklar]

hello again randy that sodium hydroxide is working great especially with my ph in fact a little to good I was wondering if I could split the mix for alk like half baking soda and half sodium hydroxide to lower the ph in the mix a little thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

hello again randy that sodium hydroxide is working great especially with my ph in fact a little to good I was wondering if I could split the mix for alk like half baking soda and half sodium hydroxide to lower the ph in the mix a little thanks

Yes, but that 50:50 mix will have an overall effect similar to sodium carbonate. Either use less than 50% bicarbonate, or use 1:1 hydroxide to carbonate.

 

[Cassklar]

So like a 75% hydroxide to 25% baking soda or 60/40 something like this

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So like a 75% hydroxide to 25% baking soda or 60/40 something like this

That's fine to try and se what happens.

 

[Clownfishy]

I use the Aquaforest trace elements in my alk solution with no issues .

Just to confirm, you add this into the ALK part rather than dosing separately?

 

[trmiv]

Just to confirm, you add this into the ALK part rather than dosing separately?

I don’t use the Aquaforest stuff, but I’m using tropic Marin A- in my sodium hydroxide alk part. No issues.

 

[Clownfishy]

OK, I have decided to give the Sodium Hydroxide version a try. However, I have gotten myself a little confused throughout 33 pages of discussion so would it be possible to clarify my approach?

Part 1
I already have Calcium Chloride Flake Dihydrate 77% Food Grade Marine Concrete Desiccant CaCl2 so I assume this is OK?
I also already have Aquaforest Magnesium but is does not list what type of Magnesium it is. Would anyone know if this is OK to mix with the Calcium as they say this should be mixed with the Mineral Salt included in their 3 part solution. I also think I read somewhere that you can leave the Magnesium out of the mix if people were using the 3 part?

Part 2
This is the Sodium Hydroxide I was going to order.
I have a choice of Sodium Sulphate, either this one or this one.
Did I also read correctly that you can skip the Sodium Sulphate and just use the Sodium Hydroxide?

Part 3
If I dont add the Magnesium in Part 1, I was going to dose Aqua Forest Mineral salt as the bailing method.

I get very nervous trying new things on my reef and chemistry is not my strong point hence the questions!

Many thanks for any clarification you can offer and when I get all this confirmed, I will keep everyone updated with my results. As you can see, I could do with a pH boost at night and that is dosing Kalk during the night time.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

OK, I have decided to give the Sodium Hydroxide version a try. However, I have gotten myself a little confused throughout 33 pages of discussion so would it be possible to clarify my approach?

Part 1
I already have Calcium Chloride Flake Dihydrate 77% Food Grade Marine Concrete Desiccant CaCl2 so I assume this is OK?
I also already have Aquaforest Magnesium but is does not list what type of Magnesium it is. Would anyone know if this is OK to mix with the Calcium as they say this should be mixed with the Mineral Salt included in their 3 part solution. I also think I read somewhere that you can leave the Magnesium out of the mix if people were using the 3 part?

Part 2
This is the Sodium Hydroxide I was going to order.
I have a choice of Sodium Sulphate, either this one or this one.
Did I also read correctly that you can skip the Sodium Sulphate and just use the Sodium Hydroxide?

Part 3
If I dont add the Magnesium in Part 1, I was going to dose Aqua Forest Mineral salt as the bailing method.

I get very nervous trying new things on my reef and chemistry is not my strong point hence the questions!

Many thanks for any clarification you can offer and when I get all this confirmed, I will keep everyone updated with my results. As you can see, I could do with a pH boost at night and that is dosing Kalk during the night time.

If you are using other products like Balling part C or Aquaforest mineral salt, you only use calcium chloride and sodium hydroxide.

You may want to use a magnesium supplement, if needed, since these add much less magnesium than my diy recipe.

 

[Clownfishy]

If you are using other products like Balling part C or Aquaforest mineral salt, you only use calcium chloride and sodium hydroxide.

You may want to use a magnesium supplement, if needed, since these add much less magnesium than my diy recipe.

Thank you for such a quick response and thank you for continuing to share your knowledge.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thank you for such a quick response and thank you for continuing to share your knowledge.

You’re welcome.

Happy Reefing!

 

[Clownfishy]

yes, you just use this sodium hydroxide in place of the soda ash.

I forgot to clarify if the quantities need to change for Part 1 and Part 2 if I am not going to add Magnesium in Part 1 and Sodium Sulphate in Part 2. Apologies if this is a dumb question!

Part 1 - The Calcium and Magnesium Part
Dissolve 500 g of calcium chloride dihydrate in enough water to make a total volume of one gallon.


Part 2 - The Alkalinity and Sulfate Part
Dissolve 282.8 g of sodium hydroxide in enough water to make a total volume of one gallon.

Part 3 - Aquaforest Mineral Salt Part
As per manufacturers instructions

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I forgot to clarify if the quantities need to change for Part 1 and Part 2 if I am not going to add Magnesium in Part 1 and Sodium Sulphate in Part 2. Apologies if this is a dumb question!

Part 1 - The Calcium and Magnesium Part
Dissolve 500 g of calcium chloride dihydrate in enough water to make a total volume of one gallon.


Part 2 - The Alkalinity and Sulfate Part
Dissolve 282.8 g of sodium hydroxide in enough water to make a total volume of one gallon.

Part 3 - Aquaforest Mineral Salt Part
As per manufacturers instructions

No, they do not change. There are a couple of these recipes, and while the other ingredients change, the calcium chloride and sodium hydroxide do not.

 

[Clownfishy]

No, they do not change. There are a couple of these recipes, and while the other ingredients change, the calcium chloride and sodium hydroxide do not.

Many thanks Randy, I will update this thread periodically with my findings. I have set out below what I am going to use, my current aquarium setup, dosage and water parameters so people can follow the progress.

My Aquarium
Please see my aquarium build for information on my Nano (I must update that thread with some newer information!). So people do not have to read the whole thread, I have included the core components here -

Dimensions

	Width	Height	Depth	Volume
External	115cm (45.28")	30cm (11.81")	30cm (11.81")	103.5 litres (27.3 U.S. gallons)
Internal	113cm (44.49")	28cm (11.02")	28cm (11.02")	88.6 litres (23.4 U.S. gallons.)

10mm glass opti-white (starphire) glass

Equipment

Lighting	2 x TMC Reef-Photon 84w
Pumps	2 x Tunze 9040
Pump Battery Backup	2 x Tunze Safety Connecter 2 x Lucas LSLA20-12 12V 20AH Sealed Rechargeable Battery 2 x Maypole 12v 7423A Battery Charger
Skimmer	Tunze 9004 DC (connected to a C02 scrubber)
Heater	2 x Aquael Ultra Heater 100w (I think these are branded Cobalt in the US)
Heater Battery Backup	PowerWalker UPS
Doser	Coralbox & Apex DOS
Computer Controller	Neptune Apex 2016 2 x EB6 (UK energy bar)
Aqara Hub	Water sensor (detect if dosers leaks)

Current Dosing (before switching to Sodium Hydroxide)

Parameter	Type	Dosage
Alkalinity	Soda Ash (Randy Holmes-Farley recipe)	11ml over 24 hours
Calcium	Calcium Chloride (Randy Holmes-Farley recipe)	11ml over 24 hours
Trace	Aquaforest Reef Mineral Salt	11ml over 24 hours
Kalkwasser	Calcium Hydroxide	275ml over 12 hours (when lights are off)

Key Water Parameters
These water parameters were taken before dosing Sodium Hydroxide and will be the key parameters I will closely monitor throughout my journey.

Parameter	High	Low
pH	8.01 - 8.06	7.84 - 7.91
C02	1635	409
Alkalinity	10.02	8.6
Calcium	455	470
Magnesium	1470	1350

pH
Normally between 7.85 - 8.02. As it has been getting warmer here in the UK, we have had the windows open a little bit more which driving down the C02 in the house and raising the pH in the aquarium. The low reading indicates night time. It is worth noting that I run a C02 scrubber on the Tunze 9004 skimmer inlet. The high of nearly 8.20 is was caused by a large water change.

C02
As mentioned above the C02 level in the house has dropped quite a lot during the day with the windows now open but you can see from a couple of examples below that during the evening and night, C02 levels rise which is another contributor to my low pH levels. Even with the Kalkwasser dosing, the pH drops rapidly after lights out.

Alkalinity
Normally measures around 9.5 - 10.0 using a Salifert test kit

Calcium
Normally measures around 450 using a Salifert test kit

Magnesium
Normally measures around 1400 using a Salifert test kit

New 2 Part
As I dose using a 3 part bailing method, I will be dropping the Magnesium from Part 1 and the Sodium Sulphate from Part 2. I will monitor my Magnesium levels and if I find I need it, I will dose Magnesium to my Part 3 as this is what Aquaforest recommends when using their Mineral Salt (Part 3). Here is what I am about to use -

Part 1 - The Calcium Part (excludes Magnesium)
Dissolve 500 g of calcium chloride dihydrate in enough water to make a total volume of one gallon.

Part 2 - The Alkalinity Part (excludes Sodium Sulfate)
Dissolve 282.8 g of Sodium Hydroxide in enough water to make a total volume of one gallon.

Part 3 - Aquaforest Mineral Salt Part
As per manufacturer's instructions

Therefore, the only change I will be making is swapping out from my current dosing is the Soda Ash with Sodium Hydroxide.

I am expecting the Sodium Hydroxide to arrive tomorrow (Saturday) so I will start posting the results shortly. I will also report back on the following as I have read some people report issues -

• Any issues with containers disintegrating
• Any issues with dosing pipes discoloration or disintegrating
• Sediment on the glass bottom

Hope people find this interesting and a BIG thank you to Randy for all the advice and solutions he offers.