Second New DIY Two Part Recipe with Higher pH Boost

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thank you very much!

You're welcome.

Happy reefing. :)

 

[TruckerAquarist]

Hello, would somebody please take the time to answer this question.

I want to make a 5 gallon bucket of alkalinity/ph buffer.

I have 600 mg of sodium hydroxide and about 1,000 mg of potassium hydroxide.

Can I safely mix this together in order to make about five or six gallons?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hello, would somebody please take the time to answer this question.

I want to make a 5 gallon bucket of alkalinity/ph buffer.

I have 600 mg of sodium hydroxide and about 1,000 mg of potassium hydroxide.

Can I safely mix this together in order to make about five or six gallons?

I cannot see any reason to use potassium hydroxide and I won’t give a recipe for it unless you give a clear reason for it. There’s too much chance of excessive potassium.

 

[TruckerAquarist]

Mr Randy thank you for your reply.
Until recently I was using kalk for my alkalinity and calcium in hopes to also have higher pH.
On a good day my PH goes up to 8.3 but at night sometimes it falls all the way to 8.05.
That's a lot of swing I think. So my hope was to decrease the kalk at night a little bit and instead of it dose sodium hydroxide to make ph more balanced.
I had previously made about a gallon of sodium hydroxide and a dose currently about 150 ml overnight. It really does help with the pH.
I want to make a bigger container like a 5 gallon bucket but I didn't have on hand enough sodium hydroxide, but I did have some potassium hydroxide.
So I was thinking mixing these two together to make the solution and hoping that not that much potassium would actually be dosed.
I'm just going to order some more sodium hydroxide from Amazon and not bother with potassium.

Thank you for taking the time for looking at all of these silly questions.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Mr Randy thank you for your reply.
Until recently I was using kalk for my alkalinity and calcium in hopes to also have higher pH.
On a good day my PH goes up to 8.3 but at night sometimes it falls all the way to 8.05.
That's a lot of swing I think. So my hope was to decrease the kalk at night a little bit and instead of it dose sodium hydroxide to make ph more balanced.
I had previously made about a gallon of sodium hydroxide and a dose currently about 150 ml overnight. It really does help with the pH.
I want to make a bigger container like a 5 gallon bucket but I didn't have on hand enough sodium hydroxide, but I did have some potassium hydroxide.
So I was thinking mixing these two together to make the solution and hoping that not that much potassium would actually be dosed.
I'm just going to order some more sodium hydroxide from Amazon and not bother with potassium.

Thank you for taking the time for looking at all of these silly questions.

Ok, I understand, and I do think waiting for just the sodium hydroxide is desirable. :)

 

[Himmat]

Hello! I have a question about your dosing method. I am planning on dosing sodium hydroxide and calcium chloride two part with magnesium on occasion. I used your method a long time ago and it worked amazing but I forgot how I dosed it properly. I remember that I began using sodium sulfate as a part of my dosing but I cannot remember why. Is there any reason to dose sodium sulfate or should I just stick with the original sodium hydroxide and calcium chloride two part along with the epson salt mix? Also, I checked my alk and it has dropped significantly (5.5 dkh instead of my goal of around 8). My tank is fairly new with minimal coral growth so not sure why my alkalinity is so low. What ratio of two parts should I be doing? (1:1 sodium hydroxide to calcium chloride?)

 

[Miami Reef]

Hello! I have a question about your dosing method. I am planning on dosing sodium hydroxide and calcium chloride two part with magnesium on occasion. I used your method a long time ago and it worked amazing but I forgot how I dosed it properly. I remember that I began using sodium sulfate as a part of my dosing but I cannot remember why. Is there any reason to dose sodium sulfate or should I just stick with the original sodium hydroxide and calcium chloride two part along with the epson salt mix? Also, I checked my alk and it has dropped significantly (5.5 dkh instead of my goal of around 8). My tank is fairly new with minimal coral growth so not sure why my alkalinity is so low. What ratio of two parts should I be doing? (1:1 sodium hydroxide to calcium chloride?)

Here is the original recipe: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-diy-two-part-recipes-with-higher-ph-boost.344500/

The first recipe is a true 2 part. The second recipe (this thread) is a 3 part. In the second recipe, you don’t have to source sodium sulfate.

 

[Miami Reef]

@Randy Holmes-Farley

The magnesium 2 part recipe from this thread is this:

Dissolve Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate heptahydrate (3 cups) and magnesium chloride hexahydrate (5 cups) in enough purified freshwater to make 1 gallon total volume.

From BRS website:

2-Part Dosing add 5-1/4 cups (933 grams) of BRS Magnesium Chloride and 2 cups (332 grams) of BRS Magnesium Sulfate into the container.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulk-magnesium-chloride-7-pounds-bulk-reef-supply.html
Assuming both recipes are for 2 part systems, which recipe is more precise for chloride and sulfate balance?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley

The magnesium 2 part recipe from this thread is this:



From BRS website:


https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulk-magnesium-chloride-7-pounds-bulk-reef-supply.html
Assuming both recipes are for 2 part systems, which recipe is more precise for chloride and sulfate balance?

Unless their magnesium sulfate is not the normal hydrate, it seems too little in their recipe. But maybe it is anhydrous or close to it, needing less.

In my recipe, the 8 cups total comprises about 64 ounces (1814 g) which was designed for a standard 64 ounce package of Epsom salt initially. Their mass total is much lower.

 

[Miami Reef]

Unless their magnesium sulfate is not the normal hydrate, it seems too little in their recipe. But maybe it is anhydrous or close to it, needing less.

In my recipe, the 8 cups total comprises about 64 ounces (1814 g) which was designed for a standard 64 ounce package of Epsom salt initially. Their mass total is much lower.

I found this quote from them in 2019:

The magnesium sulfate is now a dried form which means you can use less, it dissolves a ton easier and when mixed with magnesium chloride it no longer turns into a rock because there is minimal moisture for the mag chloride to pull out of the mag sulfate. This one is probably less expensive now because you use less.

I wonder if this is contributing to my rising sulfate issue. I always use your recipe , but I had no idea there was a concentration difference in BRS’s magnesium sulfate vs the epsom salt.

Definitely something to be mindful from now on. I’m going to follow BRS’ recipe since I’m using their magnesium sulfate and chlorine product.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I found this quote from them in 2019:



I wonder if this is contributing to my rising sulfate issue. I always use your recipe , but I had no idea there was a concentration difference in BRS’s magnesium sulfate vs the epsom salt.

Definitely something to be mindful from now on. I’m going to follow BRS’ recipe since I’m using their magnesium sulfate and chlorine product.

Wow, yes, that is likely part of the explanation for the sulfate. Glad that is sorted.

Also, one should not be using that product at all if also using Balling part C, as it will double dose the sulfate.

When using Part C, there is a revised mag dosing rate (1/3 of normal) and one should use the stand alone recipe that is mostly mag chloride (the 10:1 recipe) since it no longer needs to fix the low sulfate problem.

Sorry for the confusion. I asked BRS to fix this error in their directions a bit ago, but do not know if they did yet.

 

[Miami Reef]

When using Part C, there is a revised mag dosing rate (1/3 of normal) and one should use the stand alone recipe that is mostly mag chloride (the 10:1 recipe) since it no longer needs to fix the low sulfate problem.

Ah shoot. I did the 1/3 of normal, but I used the 5:3 ratio. I also used that solution if I wanted to dose my magnesium. That explains it.

I’m going to continue using balling part C. I’ll reassess my ionic balance in several months.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Ah shoot. I did the 1/3 of normal, but I used the 5:3 ratio. I also used that solution if I wanted to dose my magnesium. That explains it.

I’m going to continue using balling part C. I’ll reassess my ionic balance in several months.

Sounds good!

 

[KStatefan]

When using Part C, there is a revised mag dosing rate (1/3 of normal) and one should use the stand alone recipe that is mostly mag chloride (the 10:1 recipe) since it no longer needs to fix the low sulfate problem.

Would that be 1/3 of the 5-10% of calcium used in the RMM?

 

[Miami Reef]

Would that be 1/3 of the 5-10% of calcium used in the RMM?

It depends. Are you also using balling part C?

 

[Miami Reef]

Sodium hydroxide: 283g/gallon
Calcium chloride: 500g/gallon
Balling part C: 182g/gallon
Magnesium RMM (since balling part C doesn’t account for magnesium consumption) only use this if you are using balling part c for the 3rd part:

When using Part C, there is a revised mag dosing rate (1/3 of normal) and one should use the stand alone recipe that is mostly mag chloride (the 10:1 recipe) since it no longer needs to fix the low sulfate problem.

Here is the standalone recipe with using BRS Magnesium chloride and sulfate [important since BRS uses anhydrous mag sulfate, so it will be this recipe instead of the epsom salt recipe]:

Fill a 1-gallon container 1/2 full of RO/DI or distilled water and then add 7-1/4 cups (1,285 grams) of BRS Magnesium Chloride and 1/2 cup (124 grams) of BRS Magnesium Sulfate into the container.

Overtime as you finish a gallon of the 3 part solutions, add 205mL of the magnesium mix.


@Randy Holmes-Farley confirm if I got this right please. I was planning to make an article with this clarification, since I think a lot of people might be making the same error I made.

I think I nailed down the correct dosage 3 part with balling part C and RMM

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Would that be 1/3 of the 5-10% of calcium used in the RMM?

Sort of, it is 1/3 of the magnesium dose used in my two part. The other 2/3 duplicates the Balling Part C.

 

[Mickey]

Gee, now I'm confused. What's "RMM"?

If I'm dosing three parts (Alk, Ca, and Part C), do I now need to dose Magnesium too? Or is periodic adjustment when it tests low, all in one shot, okay?

 

[Miami Reef]

Gee, now I'm confused. What's "RMM"?

Randy’s Magnesium Method. In summary, the method, which I wholeheartedly agree with, states that magnesium tests are highly inaccurate, but fortunately, magnesium doesn’t even need to be tested if you use a complete dosing system that automatically accounts for the natural magnesium consumption ratio.

Here’s more details on the exact method.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/just-say-no-to-magnesium-testing-rmm-is-born.1017528/

If I'm dosing three parts (Alk, Ca, and Part C), do I now need to dose Magnesium too?

Balling Part C has magnesium, but it doesn’t account completely for the consumption; just for ionic balance. Thus, we need to supplement magnesium, but much less than what non-balling users require.

I want Randy to clarify if I got the recipe and dosage amounts correct before I start recommending it to people. Hang on tight. He’ll be here.

 

[Miami Reef]

Here is the standalone recipe with using BRS Magnesium chloride and sulfate [important since BRS uses anhydrous mag sulfate, so it will be this recipe instead of the epsom salt recipe]:

Fill a 1-gallon container 1/2 full of RO/DI or distilled water and then add 7-1/4 cups (1,285 grams) of BRS Magnesium Chloride and 1/2 cup (124 grams) of BRS Magnesium Sulfate into the container.

Overtime as you finish a gallon of the 3 part solutions, add 205mL of the magnesium mix.

@Randy Holmes-Farley

Can you please confirm if this is correct when using the 3 part including Balling Part C)