New DIY Two Part Recipes with Higher pH Boost

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes, you can add those to the alk part. [emoji3]

 

[Asco1104]

Hi

I currently use fm trace with

Sodium carbonate 100g per 1 litre with 5 ml trace

Calcium chloride 2 trace 5ml each

Magnesium chloride 400g per litre no trace

I’m a novice at bailing and have only just got my head around this but how could I adapt this recipe to increase my ph while still using the trace elements or is that not possible?

My ph is currently 7.85 to 8.12 daily, I would like to get it nearer 8.2-8.4.

Also my doser can only do 24 doses each on each head.

Thank you in advance

Tim

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hi

I currently use fm trace with

Sodium carbonate 100g per 1 litre with 5 ml trace

Calcium chloride 2 trace 5ml each

Magnesium chloride 400g per litre no trace

I’m a novice at bailing and have only just got my head around this but how could I adapt this recipe to increase my ph while still using the trace elements or is that not possible?

My ph is currently 7.85 to 8.12 daily, I would like to get it nearer 8.2-8.4.

Thank you in advance

Tim

So this isn't balling, this is a two part. But the difference is minor, and if you want to use your method at higher pH, do this:

Instead of sodium carbonate 100 grams, you'd use 75.5 grams of sodium hydroxide. Everything else the same.

 

[Asco1104]

So this isn't balling, this is a two part. But the difference is minor, and if you want to use your method at higher pH, do this:

Instead of sodium carbonate 100 grams, you'd use 75.5 grams of sodium hydroxide. Everything else the same.

Thanks great thanks [emoji120]

I did read that dosing sodium hydroxide should be spread out over as many times a day, is once a hour over a day ok or should I invest in a new doser?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks great thanks [emoji120]

I did read that dosing sodium hydroxide should be spread out over as many times a day, is once a hour over a day ok or should I invest in a new doser?

Once an hour will typically be fine. :)

 

[Asco1104]

Once an hour will typically be fine. :)

Thank you [emoji4]

 

[Asco1104]

Last question [emoji51] maybe
Is this the correct product?

 

[WWIII]

Last question [emoji51] maybe
Is this the correct product?

Yes that's right, also called lye. I prefer food grade and have been using this one for several months...

 

[WWIII]

Oh and be kinda careful. Don't get it on you and it gets pretty warm. :-)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I agree. Right chemical, but purity assurance of food or other high grade is good.

 

[Asco1104]

It dosnt seem to be that easy to find a supplier in the uk that quotes it as being food grade. I have found a soap maker supplier that states this

This sodium hydroxide is packed by us in-house. There is therefore NO mechanised bottling where any traces of hydrated silica powder might be introduced. If you are concerned for the purity of your lye then this product should be your preferred choice.

Is this a better bet?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It dosnt seem to be that easy to find a supplier in the uk that quotes it as being food grade. I have found a soap maker supplier that states this

This sodium hydroxide is packed by us in-house. There is therefore NO mechanised bottling where any traces of hydrated silica powder might be introduced. If you are concerned for the purity of your lye then this product should be your preferred choice.

Is this a better bet?

I cannot say.

The concern with an alkalinity additive purity is fairly high since you add a lot of it, compared to, say, a trace element additive.

All of these grades are good:

United States Pharmacopeia (USP)
Food Chemicals Codex (FCC)
National Formulary (NF)
Pharmacopeia Europe (EP or Ph. Eur.)
British Pharmacopeia (BP)
Japanese Pharmacopeia (JP)
Reagent Grade (AR)

 

[Asco1104]

I cannot say.

The concern with an alkalinity additive purity is fairly high since you add a lot of it, compared to, say, a trace element additive.

All of these grades are good:

United States Pharmacopeia (USP)
Food Chemicals Codex (FCC)
National Formulary (NF)
Pharmacopeia Europe (EP or Ph. Eur.)
British Pharmacopeia (BP)
Japanese Pharmacopeia (JP)
Reagent Grade (AR)

Thanks, i have contacted the company I use for my other salts to see if they will stock, I will stick with carbonate until I can source some sodium hydroxide.

 

[Tmmste]

Thanks, i have contacted the company I use for my other salts to see if they will stock, I will stick with carbonate until I can source some sodium hydroxide.

if you use sodium hydroxide and go for a more concentrated solution (which I feel a big advantage), note that it does not become a 'white cloud' like (bi)carbonate once it hits the water... it is more gell-like and It will stay like that floating around for some time untill it dissolves.. the more concentrated the solution the more time it takes. I used concentrated stuff to kill some anemonies and turned off the flow. I spilled a drop which landed on an acan head 50cm deeper in the tank.. the head burned instantly and the next day the head was gone.. so use ample of flow in to dissolve it.

 

[Zephrant]

I’m having a problem with this part:

Part 2 - The Alkalinity and Sulfate Part

Dissolve 282.8 g of sodium hydroxide (=7.07 moles of sodium hydroxide to match the 3.535 moles of sodium carbonate in alkalinity) plus 68.7 g of sodium sulfate in enough water to make a total volume of one gallon.​

I believe I followed these directions, but I get a fluffy white precipitation when I slowly pour it in to the sump, that I don’t get with just sodium carbonate. Additionally, it does not appear to affect my alk much. I’ve been dosing 50ml of this solution daily, and my alk is going down (5.5), where I was dosing 5-10g of sodium carbonate daily to maintain levels at 8.5- 9.0.

This is about 10s after pouring 20ml in my sump:

 

[Tmmste]

I’m having a problem with this part:

Part 2 - The Alkalinity and Sulfate Part

Dissolve 282.8 g of sodium hydroxide (=7.07 moles of sodium hydroxide to match the 3.535 moles of sodium carbonate in alkalinity) plus 68.7 g of sodium sulfate in enough water to make a total volume of one gallon.​

I believe I followed these directions, but I get a fluffy white precipitation when I slowly pour it in to the sump, that I don’t get with just sodium carbonate. Additionally, it does not appear to affect my alk much. I’ve been dosing 50ml of this solution daily, and my alk is going down (5.5), where I was dosing 5-10g of sodium carbonate daily to maintain levels at 8.5- 9.0.

This is about 10s after pouring 20ml in my sump:

Is your Mg level high enough to prevent precipitation?

 

[Zephrant]

Mg is 1350. Ca is 360 tonight, Alk is 6.0 after adding some sodium carbonate last night. Don’t want to raise it to fast, but want to get it back to 8 at least.
Will try another 50ml of solution tonight, and check in the morning.

 

[WWIII]

Mg is 1350. Ca is 360 tonight, Alk is 6.0 after adding some sodium carbonate last night. Don’t want to raise it to fast, but want to get it back to 8 at least.
Will try another 50ml of solution tonight, and check in the morning.

I add mine 5 ml at a time, which takes my doser a little over 1 minute to accomplish. It's dosed automatically into an extremely high flow area of my sump. Is there any way for you to dose smaller amounts at a time and/or dose it to an area that has high flow?

 

[Zephrant]

Only manually, am working on purchasing a dosing setup. I’ve always ran calcium reactors before.
Last night I was at 6.0. I added 100ml of solution, and this morning I’m at 6.0 again. It’s a 72 g tank, lightly loaded with fish and corals.

It just appears that my solution is settling out and not impacting the Alk at all. I bought the powders from Amazon.

 

[Zephrant]

Well, I gave up on that mixture. Went to the other Alk formula, and am slowly raising my alk back up to normal. 100ml a day in to a 70g system, gives me a 0.5-1.0 rise. Am back to 7.5 now, will hit 9 in two days.