Second New DIY Two Part Recipe with Higher pH Boost

[KStatefan]

Hi, sodium hydroxide is caustic soda not soda ash and is more potent than soda ash. I don't know if caustic soda and soda ash has same dkh value. Could you please reconfirm. Thank you. I want to dose during night time only to keep my ph stable. currently running All for Reef and two part combo in 50/50 ratio.

When mixed to the concentration in the first post it matches the dkh of Randy's soda ash recipe.

Alk part

Add 283 grams of sodium hydroxide to 1 gallon of fresh water. It will get quite warm. Make sure it doesn't soften your container. This solution will contain about 1,900 meq/L of alkalinity (5,300 dKH). BE CAREFUL WITH THIS SOLUTION: IT HAS A pH ABOVE 14. Do not get it in your eyes or on your skin. Keep all reef chemicals, especially this alk part, in a way that children cannot access them. "

 

[johnwwalkeriii]

I’ve been using Randy’s sodium hydroxide 3 part that Miami posted. And Miami helped get me going with it. I couldn’t be happier with it. I only dose through the night. Starting at 10pm-10am. Ph never gets below 8.15 at night and keeps it around 8.45 during the day. Alk is around 8.2 - 8.3 Calcium stays pretty solid around 425-435 and mag is around 1425. I dose with the traces added and do a total dose of 80ml per night. It’s an acro dominated tank with some lps and softies scattered throughout.

 

[Miami Reef]

I’ve been using Randy’s sodium hydroxide 3 part that Miami posted. And Miami helped get me going with it. I couldn’t be happier with it. I only dose through the night. Starting at 10pm-10am. Ph never gets below 8.15 at night and keeps it around 8.45 during the day. Alk is around 8.2 - 8.3 Calcium stays pretty solid around 425-435 and mag is around 1425. I dose with the traces added and do a total dose of 80ml per night. It’s an acro dominated tank with some lps and softies scattered throughout.

Thanks for the update! I’m glad it’s working well.

 

[Sadat Faisal]

I’ve been using Randy’s sodium hydroxide 3 part that Miami posted. And Miami helped get me going with it. I couldn’t be happier with it. I only dose through the night. Starting at 10pm-10am. Ph never gets below 8.15 at night and keeps it around 8.45 during the day. Alk is around 8.2 - 8.3 Calcium stays pretty solid around 425-435 and mag is around 1425. I dose with the traces added and do a total dose of 80ml per night. It’s an acro dominated tank with some lps and softies scattered throughout.

Hi, Thank you for confirming. Do you dose it through normal dosing pump tube or special kind of less corrosive tube. Thank you.

 

[johnwwalkeriii]

Normal dosing tubes. I change my lines out every 6 months, regardless of what I dose. Honestly I probably could go a year, but I like being safe. This recipe is totally worth it. I used to dose magnesion, but have since switched to the homemade mag recipe and add it to the balling part c.

 

[Sadat Faisal]

Normal dosing tubes. I change my lines out every 6 months, regardless of what I dose. Honestly I probably could go a year, but I like being safe. This recipe is totally worth it. I used to dose magnesion, but have since switched to the homemade mag recipe and add it to the balling part c.

Thank you. it's said to mix 68.7 gram sodium sulfate. is that sodium sulfate anhydrous Na2SO4 or something else. Thank you for helping out.

 

[Miami Reef]

Thank you. it's said to mix 68.7 gram sodium sulfate. is that sodium sulfate anhydrous Na2SO4 or something else. Thank you for helping out.

Follow this recipe. It’s much better.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-balling-method-recipe.1098905/

 

[johnwwalkeriii]

Thank you. it's said to mix 68.7 gram sodium sulfate. is that sodium sulfate anhydrous Na2SO4 or something else. Thank you for helping out.

X2 on what @Miami Reef said!

 

[Sadat Faisal]

Follow this recipe. It’s much better.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-balling-method-recipe.1098905/

Thank you.

 

[ataller]

Hi Randy,

As far as I understand, when we dose OH, it binds with CO2 to form carbonate and bicarbonate. Less CO2 leads to a higher pH.

I was thinking on my way to work this morning, what happens if you dose enough lye and kalkwasser to bind all of the CO2 available in the salt water?

Is this a risk for someone with high pH (low CO2) who is dosing hydroxide? If you are dosing hydroxide do you then recommend not using a CO2 scrubber on the skimmer to make sure there is a constant supply of fresh CO2?

In the absence of available CO2, do hydroxide ions start binding to other things that are valuable?

Will the pH get extremely high? What would the signs of something like this be?

Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hydroxide will immediately bind with bicarbonate to form carbonate. Some will more slowly bind with CO2/carbonic acid to form more bicarbonate and carbonate. Some will remain as hydroxide.

If you dose hydroxide faster than the water can pull in CO2, the pH rises as more hydroxide reacts with H+ to form water, H2O. That is what happens in a kalk or sodium hydroxide overdose.

Normally precipitation of calcium carbonate is the first sign of an overdose, and the tank can turn white like milk.

 

[ataller]

Hydroxide will immediately bind with bicarbonate to form carbonate. Some will more slowly bind with CO2/carbonic acid to form more bicarbonate and carbonate. Some will remain as hydroxide.

If you dose hydroxide faster than the water can pull in CO2, the pH rises as more hydroxide reacts with H+ to form water, H2O. That is what happens in a kalk or sodium hydroxide overdose.

Normally precipitation of calcium carbonate is the first sign of an overdose, and the tank can turn white like milk.

Thanks Randy.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You’re welcome.

Happy Reefing. :)

 

[trupai]

Hello everyone, I'm using Randy's three component recipe with hydroxide. I dose equal parts of the three solutions, but the calcium keeps dropping. Why is this happening? My reef is 13 years old, 100 galons, with many LPS and SPS coral.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hello everyone, I'm using Randy's three component recipe with hydroxide. I dose equal parts of the three solutions, but the calcium keeps dropping. Why is this happening? My reef is 13 years old, 100 galons, with many LPS and SPS coral.

How much has it dropped?

In general, upping the calcium dose a bit is fine.

 

[trupai]

How much has it dropped?

In general, upping the calcium dose a bit is fine.

Decreases by 30ppm per week.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Decreases by 30ppm per week.

That’s significant, if accurate. How are you measuring it? Im not a fan of controller accuracy.

You using a dosing pump that may not be delivering exactly the same amounts?

Maybe made the recipe wrong? (There are two recipes and they are different in potency)

Doing water changes with a low calcium mix?

 

[trupai]

That’s significant, if accurate. How are you measuring it? Im not a fan of controller accuracy.

You using a dosing pump that may not be delivering exactly the same amounts?

Maybe made the recipe wrong? (There are two recipes and they are different in potency)

Doing water changes with a low calcium mix?

I measure with a Salifert calcium test.
The liquid that is dosed is accurate because I use graduated containers.
The recipe I use is:
373g of sodium hydroxide and RO water to 5 liters
660g of Ca2Cl2. 2H2O and RO water to 5l
250g Tropic marin part C in 5l
I do water changes with Red sea salt, the calcium in this water is 440ppm.
The decrease in calcium has been constant from 6 months.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

That should be balanced enough to not drop in calcium, as long as there are no other alk sources being added ( nitrate dosing, tap water, etc).

In any case, I’d just up the calcium dosed. I don’t think there is any in tank reason for that effect, but perhaps the solid calcium has additional moisture in it, etc.

You aren’t using Red Sea Coral pro salt are you? It may have excessive alk relative to calcium.

 

[trupai]

That should be balanced enough to not drop in calcium, as long as there are no other alk sources being added ( nitrate dosing, tap water, etc).

In any case, I’d just up the calcium dosed. I don’t think there is any in tank reason for that effect, but perhaps the solid calcium has additional moisture in it, etc.

You aren’t using Red Sea Coral pro salt are you? It may have excessive alk relative to calcium.

No, I am using Red Sea Salt and I increased the calcium solution.