Second New DIY Two Part Recipe with Higher pH Boost

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

my 500G system runs 7.9-8.2 ph, i use calcium reactor/ water changes for all my water needs. how can ad this to my system to boost ph? to lets says 8.3-8.4 levels?

You cannot pick a final pH. You can use it to maintain alk and calcium, and see how much it helps. By itself, it may not get to that goal from your starting point, and other methods may be needed (such as fresher air to the room).

 

[Jposch]

@Randy Holmes-Farley can you verify my math?
Sodium hydroxide solution, 800mg/gallon
Dosing 216ml/day into 300 net gallons. Comes out to nearly 3dkh contribution?
Thank you.
Also, do you know the alkalinity contribution per dry weight for sodium hydroxide for corrective doses?
An example: kalk slurry added manually, 6.2grams (~1 gal saturated limewater equivalent) will boost my alkalinity 0.4dkh.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley can you verify my math?
Sodium hydroxide solution, 800mg/gallon
Dosing 216ml/day into 300 net gallons. Comes out to nearly 3dkh contribution?
Thank you.
Also, do you know the alkalinity contribution per dry weight for sodium hydroxide for corrective doses?
An example: kalk slurry added manually, 6.2grams (~1 gal saturated limewater equivalent) will boost my alkalinity 0.4dkh.

It would be so much easier to just use the recipe posted here, which has calculators in place for calculation. lol

Why not use it?

"Add 283 grams of sodium hydroxide to 1 gallon of fresh water. "


Do you really mean 800 mg/gallon? Not 800 g/gallon? That is very weak.

 

[Jposch]

It would be so much easier to just use the recipe posted here, which has calculators in place for calculation. lol

Why not use it?

"Add 283 grams of sodium hydroxide to 1 gallon of fresh water. "


Do you really mean 800 mg/gallon? Not 800 g/gallon? That is very weak.

Oh, yeah 800 grams. Because that recipe is too weak. Yes, there is risk with a concentrated Alkalinity supplement. Especially so with sodium hydroxide, but I'd rather fill the gallon container and tuck it away for a month rather than be measuring out lye crystals every week. That's still only around 20% saturation.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Oh, yeah 800 grams. Because that recipe is too weak. Yes, there is risk with a concentrated Alkalinity supplement. Especially so with sodium hydroxide, but I'd rather fill the gallon container and tuck it away for a month rather than be measuring out lye crystals every week. That's still only around 20% saturation.

OK, if you want it higher you can go higher.

Your recipe is 2.8 times as potent as the one in this thread (my DIY two part #1), so you are adding 2.8 x 1.0 dKH = 2.8 dKh per day.

The 1 dKH came from this calculator for my DIY #1:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html
Dry NaOH (mw 40 g/mol) is 2.1 times as potent as dry NaHCO3 (mw = 84 g/mole), and again from the calculator, 16.2 g NaOH in 300 gallons adds 0.47 dKH x 2.1 = 1.0 dKH.

I would not recommend adding dry NaOH to seawater.

 

[Jposch]

OK, if you want it higher you can go higher.

Your recipe is 2.8 times as potent as the one in this thread (my DIY two part #1), so you are adding 2.8 x 1.0 dKH = 2.8 dKh per day.

The 1 dKH came from this calculator for my DIY #1:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html
Dry NaOH (mw 40 g/mol) is 2.1 times as potent as dry NaHCO3 (mw = 84 g/mole), and again from the calculator, 16.2 g NaOH in 300 gallons adds 0.47 dKH x 2.1 = 1.0 dKH.

I would not recommend adding dry NaOH to seawater.

Thank you. I agree, I just mix the amount needed in a small container with rodi and slowly add that liquid solution in a high flow area.

 

[Troylee]

So does this need to be stored in an air tight container like kalk to keep its potency??? @Randy Holmes-Farley

 

[Chad3407]

You cannot pick a final pH. You can use it to maintain alk and calcium, and see how much it helps. By itself, it may not get to that goal from your starting point, and other methods may be needed (such as fresher air to the room).

I will say I have been using this method to keep my ph stable. It took some figuring out how much I have to dose over the day but I found the sweet spot for my tank. I dose as much as I need to keep ph steady at 8.2 and I dont worry about the alk rising. Currently it’s sitting at 13.5 and the growth on my sps have never been better. I’m roughly dosing 2dkh over 24h at .3ml every 2.5min. Basically I’m doing the same as other do with kalk but I had an issue with calcium go out the roof with kalk. This system allows me to control both and it’s not dependent on evaporation.

 

[Chad3407]

But I do have 1 question. I’m currently using just sodium hydroxide for the alk and calcium chloride for the calcium. I don’t ever find myself having to dose magnesium as it stays pretty steady at 1400 with water changes. My question is, should I be mixing sodium sulfate in the alk part. I wasnt sure if that was just for magnesium part.

 

[Troylee]

I will say I have been using this method to keep my ph stable. It took some figuring out how much I have to dose over the day but I found the sweet spot for my tank. I dose as much as I need to keep ph steady at 8.2 and I dont worry about the alk rising. Currently it’s sitting at 13.5 and the growth on my sps have never been better. I’m roughly dosing 2dkh over 24h at .3ml every 2.5min. Basically I’m doing the same as other do with kalk but I had an issue with calcium go out the roof with kalk. This system allows me to control both and it’s not dependent on evaporation.

What size tank? I just started dosing 2 hours ago haha! I dosed 50ml to 300 gallons and my ph went up .07 but my alk didn’t change..

 

[Chad3407]

What size tank? I just started dosing 2 hours ago haha! I dosed 50ml to 300 gallons and my ph went up .07 but my alk didn’t change..

My current tank is only 40 gallons. Which is why kalk wouldnt work. Im dosing around 60mls a day to a lightly stocked tank. Like I said my alk went from 8 to 14 in a couple days but it stayed there and has gone down to 11 at times. I have absolutely no concern with alk numbers. Tank has never looked so good.

 

[Birdy64]

@Randy Holmes-Farley Would this product be safe to use for my calcium mixture? It doesn't say food grade or otherwise. Amazon product ASIN B00L22EJ6G

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So does this need to be stored in an air tight container like kalk to keep its potency??? @Randy Holmes-Farley

No. Any CO2 getting into it will slightly lower the pH effect, but it has no effect on potency. Even after a lot of CO2 entered, the pH effect is as large or larger than a carbonate based two part.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley Would this product be safe to use for my calcium mixture? It doesn't say food grade or otherwise. Amazon product ASIN B00L22EJ6G

I do not know how pure it is.

 

[Aquachristik]

It’s the method I recommend when using sodium hydroxide. Calcium chloride, sodium hydroxide, and Balling Part C.

It makes sense to me to use the Balling Method and replace Part B with Sodium Hydroxide. But why does BRS use 3 parts and then also use Part C? Is it better not to fine-tune magnesium using Part C?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It makes sense to me to use the Balling Method and replace Part B with Sodium Hydroxide. But why does BRS use 3 parts and then also use Part C? Is it better not to fine-tune magnesium using Part C?

Because they do not know what they are doing.

My original DIY (that they use) was three parts, and they added Balling Part C onto it instead of replacing my third part.

Don't use my third part if you use Balling Part C.

 

[Aquachristik]

Because they do not know what they are doing.

My original DIY (that they use) was three parts, and they added Balling Part C onto it instead of replacing my third part.

Don't use my third part if you use Balling Part C.

Got it, thanks Randy. So adjust Part C dosing based on magnesium test readings?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Currently it’s sitting at 13.5 and the growth on my sps have never been better. I’m roughly dosing 2dkh over 24h at .3ml every 2.5min.

One concern is that at some point, you may get excessive precipitation of calcium carbonate on pumps, sand, heaters, etc, when the alk is that high and pH is not low.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Got it, thanks Randy. So adjust Part C dosing based on magnesium test readings?

No, dose Part C independent of magnesium, based on alk (or calcium) dosing. Dose it 2x one of these (or 2x the average of them). mention that here:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/randy-recommended-diy-two-part-recipes.984604/#post-11624786
If magnesium gets too low, supplement it with something besides part C, which is inappropriate for this use as it adds other stuff such as potassium.

 

[Chad3407]

But I do have 1 question. I’m currently using just sodium hydroxide for the alk and calcium chloride for the calcium. I don’t ever find myself having to dose magnesium as it stays pretty steady at 1400 with water changes. My question is, should I be mixing sodium sulfate in the alk part. I wasnt sure if that was just for magnesium part