New DIY Two Part Recipes with Higher pH Boost

[zachxlutz]

Like I said BRS bulk prices on the calcium and magnesium are hard to beat (from what I've found), plus we know they should be fairly pure and safe, but here's the sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfate chemicals I purchased on amazon...

Here's what I ordered from Amazon. The Calcium and Magnesium will be BRS products.

 

[fedeuma]

Like I said BRS bulk prices on the calcium and magnesium are hard to beat (from what I've found), plus we know they should be fairly pure and safe, but here's the sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfate chemicals I purchased on amazon...

This is good! Thank You for sharing Sir!

 

[fedeuma]

Here's what I ordered from Amazon. The Calcium and Magnesium will be BRS products.

Alright! Nice! Thanks!!

 

[WWIII]

This is good! Thank You for sharing Sir!

You're welcome! I have a 250 gallon system and dose 120ml each right now, without a ton of huge corals (tank is 2 years old). Anyways, what I found is the more you buy of the sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfate, the price is lowered dramatically. Past 1 lb. the prices go way down, but then again we don't need a 100 year supply. Just something to think about and look into based on system size and dosing levels.

 

[fedeuma]

You're welcome! I have a 250 gallon system and dose 120ml each right now, without a ton of huge corals (tank is 2 years old). Anyways, what I found is the more you buy of the sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfate, the price is lowered dramatically. Past 1 lb. the prices go way down, but then again we don't need a 100 year supply. Just something to think about and look into based on system size and dosing levels.

Yes, I did noticed that. I do like buying some of this stuff in bulk and not having to worry about for a while.

 

[WWIII]

Yes, I did noticed that. I do like buying some of this stuff in bulk and not having to worry about for a while.

Yeah the sodium sulfate, I think duda offers a 40 lb. Bag for $40. But that's enough to make 240 gallons of solution. Lol. I opted for the 10 lb. Bag for $17. I think the 1 lb. Is around $8, but still enough to make 6 gallons

 

[fedeuma]

Hahaha!

 

[fedeuma]

Definitely one pound of Calcium Chloride is not sufficient to make one gallon of the Calcium Part as it calls for 500g.

 

[WWIII]

Definitely one pound of Calcium Chloride is not sufficient to make one gallon of the Calcium Part as it calls for 500g.

Nope! Good to point out! I think next time BRS goes on sale I'm gonna order the 5 gallon bucket. That should hold me over a while and makes this very affordable per gallon of solution. A few dollars per gallon sure is better than some of the premixed hobby solutions!

 

[WWIII]

As a side note here, I've messed around with different timing on dosing the alk portion of this recipe. I keep going back to 1 dose every hour for 24 hours to get the most consistent ph. My ph now is 8.2ish to 8.4ish throughout the entire day. I have no more skimmer airline, no more kalk in ato, and I don't have reverse fuge lighting. Before my ph would be as low as 7.7, then with skimmer airline and kalk in ato I was getting 7.9 as my low. This 2 part has really made a big difference for my ph and my wallet!

The calcium part I dose every half hour 24/7 so that there is 30 mins apart from the alk dosing.

 

[fedeuma]

Funny that you mention this. How I found this thread was when I asked Randy if he was still dosing Kalkwasser. He told me about a a part-two with a high pH. So is nice to see what you did and how now you're able to manage your pH a lot better than before even without the external air line and Kalkwasser. I had the same issue on my previous reef tank so I'm too will be implementing this method of two-part.

 

[Clittrell]

Someone was asking about a scale earlier, this is the one I have been using for about a year and it works very well so far. Even comes with a tray...

Thanks for posting. Can’t seem to find that on amazon. Most don’t have such a large range. Can you post or pm the link?

Thanks

 

[WWIII]

Thanks for posting. Can’t seem to find that on amazon. Most don’t have such a large range. Can you post or pm the link?

Thanks

It appears to be sold out/unavailable at this time. That stinks as it's a good scale for our purposes. The model number is MH-885, if you type that in google it comes up available from a few different sources. Those sources aren't amazon unfortunately, but may be a way to go if the price is right?

 

[WWIII]

There's this one that gets pretty good reviews, it goes up to 600 grams. Obviously I can't comment on how good it is, but looks decent enough for what we are using it for...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06WD3C2K...rj&pd_rd_r=GR8S7XSFWQQ8TB4K01NA&pd_rd_w=ad5tE

 

[mstockmaster]

Good morning Randy. Thank you for putting this recipe together. My question is what benefit will this higher pH provide to me? Currently my tank reads 7.7-8ish on salifert test kit (was confirmed by lfs). I dose esv two part and keep my ALK at 8.6, calcium at 430. Nitrates and phosphate at 15 and .05 respectively. My skimmer line is plumbed to outside air. I primarily keep sps along with some lps.

What are the benefits of getting my pH up to the 8.0-8.3 range?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Good morning Randy. Thank you for putting this recipe together. My question is what benefit will this higher pH provide to me? Currently my tank reads 7.7-8ish on salifert test kit (was confirmed by lfs). I dose esv two part and keep my ALK at 8.6, calcium at 430. Nitrates and phosphate at 15 and .05 respectively. My skimmer line is plumbed to outside air. I primarily keep sps along with some lps.

What are the benefits of getting my pH up to the 8.0-8.3 range?

The potential benefits are faster hard coral growth, possibly healthier corals (e.g., less susceptible to a double whammy when other stressors come along) and possibly, less growth of problem algae that must get their carbon dioxide from CO2 rather than bicarbonate. The extent of these possible benefits may depend on how low the pH is to begin with.

The main drawback is likely to be more abiotic precipitation on pumps and heaters and such places that get warm. If the pH gets too high, even certain macroalgae may decline.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I discuss he pH issue on algae species here:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-10/rhf/index.php

see table 1. It comapres pH 8.0 (8.1?) to much higher pH, but the point is the same: higher pH may deter some algae and maybe dinos.

 

[mstockmaster]

I put in an order to make the hydroxide version. I'll update once I start using it.

 

[doughboy]

While I've had it happen many times too, here's the gruesome process that makes it slimy...

The pH is high enough that fats (triglycerides, or the fatty acid ester of glycerol) in your skin tissue are hydrolyzed into fatty acids, which are a surfactant. This is the age old process for making soap:

fat + lye = soap + glycerol

I was gonna say when I first read this thread, isn't NaOH an ingredient of soap, and it has always been known that soap and reef don't mix as it can affect/kill livestock? and here we are dosing NaOH? or was no soap in reef only a myth? meaning, we can actually wash equipment, socks etc with soap and it should be fine? or at least a reef safe soap if there is such a thing?

I think NaOH is also used to regenerate GFO, and it is probably not possible to completely rinse off the NaOH from GFO after regeneration.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Many people, myself included, dose only hydroxide for alkalinity (as limewater/kalkwasser). I dosed it every day for 20 years. It is nothing like soap. It is just used to make soap, among other things.