Question regarding muriatic acid and salt mixing

[Tuffloud1]

I add muriatic acid to my IO salt to lower alk.

Is there any reason to wait to add the muriatic acid after dumping the salt in?

If so how long should I wait?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

No, you can add the acid to the water first if you want.

 

[homer1475]

Why would one want to do that though?

I do it too, but only after I measure the ALK to see what it is. I know IO is pretty consistent, but it does fluctuate between 9 and 11, and I've had as high as 14.

 

[Tuffloud1]

Why would one want to do that though?

I do it too, but only after I measure the ALK to see what it is. I know IO is pretty consistent, but it does fluctuate between 9 and 11, and I've had as high as 14.

I purchase the 200 gallon boxes and it takes 1 bag plus 4 cups in my 55 gallon mixing container to reach 1.026. So I test the first batch of each box and assume the remaining 3 bags of the box are going to be pretty much the same Alk as the first bag.

After countless boxes, I always end up needing approximately 15 ml muriatic acid for a 2 dkh drop.

Is that a wise assumption?

 

[Tuffloud1]

No, you can add the acid to the water first if you want.

Thanks Randy. Is it also okay to add the acid immediately after dumping the salt in?

 

[homer1475]

Ive used IO for years now, and also buy the 200G boxes. While it is pretty consistent, it does fluctuate a bit. I test every batch I make and I have seen it as high as 14 and as low as 9 between bags in the same box.

I typically add 13ML to drop 45G down to 7.5, but I have always measured the ALK beforehand.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Why would one want to do that though?

I do it too, but only after I measure the ALK to see what it is. I know IO is pretty consistent, but it does fluctuate between 9 and 11, and I've had as high as 14.

To reduce precipitation of calcium carbonate that may happen when the hypersaline solution forms on or near a pile of dissolving salt mix.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks Randy. Is it also okay to add the acid immediately after dumping the salt in?

Yes, you can add the acid any time you want after the water is there.

 

[homer1475]

To reduce precipitation of calcium carbonate that may happen when the hypersaline solution forms on or near a pile of dissolving salt mix.

Huh?

My question was why would one want to add it to the water before the salt mix? You don't know how much to add until you mix up the salt and test it. I suppose you could just blindly add it based on prior usage, but as I already stated I have found differences between bags in the same box. I used to add it in based on previous mixes, but got complacent on testing it and found one batch was still high after my typical addition. So now I test every batch and add based on the number the batch mixes too.

I suppose either way would work, just curious why one would want to add the acid before testing to see what the levels are.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Huh?

My question was why would one want to add it to the water before the salt mix? You don't know how much to add until you mix up the salt and test it. I suppose you could just blindly add it based on prior usage, but as I already stated I have found differences between bags in the same box. I used to add it in based on previous mixes, but got complacent on testing it and found one batch was still high after my typical addition. So now I test every batch and add based on the number the batch mixes too.

I suppose either way would work, just curious why one would want to add the acid before testing to see what the levels are.

lol

Many folks add a fixed amount, and if doing so, could add it first. I don't think most people find the native alk of IO as variable as you suggest.

If you do not want to add a fixed amount, and are basing it on testing, then you could add part of it first and finish it off based on alk testing, or just add it all alter.

 

[Tuffloud1]

Yes, you can add the acid any time you want after the water is there.

Thank you

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You’re welcome.

Happy Reefing

 

[islander84]

What brand of muriatic acid is being used? Can it be added directly to a sump via drip or low doses without harming anything?

 

[Dkeller_nc]

Ideally you wouldn't want to add HCl to an occupied tank with critters. The reason is that the HCl will temporarily depress the pH. After an hour or two, off-gassing of CO2 from the water will restore the pH to approximately what it was before you added the HCl, but in the meantime the pH could drop significantly.

As you might surmise, how much the pH drops (and how long it takes to recover) is directly related to how much HCl you're adding. So in the cases where I've needed to do this, I've split the HCl additions into multiple doses to minimize the pH drop.