Soda ash vs bicarbonate for alk dosing

[daniella3d]

I would use the soda hash. My Ph is about the same as yours and I use the BRS soda hash because I don't want my PH any lower than 8 if possible.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

I would use the soda hash. My Ph is about the same as yours and I use the BRS soda hash because I don't want my PH any lower than 8 if possible.

Yah that's what I was thinking too since I would prefer my pH to be above 8 instead of being below 8. Getting it from BRS is not possible for me so I will search local or else I will order that from RA. Thanks for the input

[lastlight]

Agree about the soda ash. The majority of BRS users go with it rather than the bicarbonate.

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

I will search local or else I will order that from RA

Make your own from baking soda

Courtesy of Randy;
Spread baking soda (594 grams or about 2 ¼ cups) on a baking tray and heat in an ordinary oven at 300°F for one hour to drive off water and carbon dioxide. Overheating is not a problem, either with higher temperatures or longer times. Dissolve the residual solid in enough water to make 1 gallon total. This dissolution may require a fair amount of mixing. Warming it speeds dissolution. This solution will contain about 1,900 meq/L of alkalinity (5,300 dKH). I prefer to use baked baking soda rather than washing soda in this recipe as baking soda from a grocery store is always food grade, while washing soda may not have the same purity requirements. Arm & Hammer brand is a fine choice. Be sure to NOT use baking powder. Baking powder is a different material that often has phosphate as a main ingredient.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

Make your own from baking soda

Courtesy of Randy;
Spread baking soda (594 grams or about 2 ¼ cups) on a baking tray and heat in an ordinary oven at 300°F for one hour to drive off water and carbon dioxide. Overheating is not a problem, either with higher temperatures or longer times. Dissolve the residual solid in enough water to make 1 gallon total. This dissolution may require a fair amount of mixing. Warming it speeds dissolution. This solution will contain about 1,900 meq/L of alkalinity (5,300 dKH). I prefer to use baked baking soda rather than washing soda in this recipe as baking soda from a grocery store is always food grade, while washing soda may not have the same purity requirements. Arm & Hammer brand is a fine choice. Be sure to NOT use baking powder. Baking powder is a different material that often has phosphate as a main ingredient.

Yap but its too much hassle to save $30 :P Since my tank is small, one 4lb box should go for months. Manual preparation would have diminishing return for me

[kien]

for the first couple of years that I was dosing I just baked baking soda in the oven. Cheap and easy. I baked like 3 large boxes worth and stored the result in zip loc bags. I tried soda ash recently and it was nice because it mixed a lot easier than baking soda. However, I ran out of it and kinda find it a pain to have to order more form BRS. Instead I just went to Superstore and bought more baking soda and baked it again. Anyway, I am using recipe #1 because my pH tends to be lower (7.9-8). If your pH tends to be higher you can use recipe #2 which doesn't involve baking.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by kien

for the first couple of years that I was dosing I just baked baking soda in the oven. Cheap and easy. I baked like 3 large boxes worth and stored the result in zip loc bags. I tried soda ash recently and it was nice because it mixed a lot easier than baking soda. However, I ran out of it and kinda find it a pain to have to order more form BRS. Instead I just went to Superstore and bought more baking soda and baked it again. Anyway, I am using recipe #1 because my pH tends to be lower (7.9-8). If your pH tends to be higher you can use recipe #2 which doesn't involve baking.

Yah looks like most of the people use BRS stuff but I saw that RA is also selling the same stuff at a very reasonable price. Tempted by that.

[kien]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

Yah looks like most of the people use BRS stuff but I saw that RA is also selling the same stuff at a very reasonable price. Tempted by that.

Ya, it's good stuff. I just find it very pricy to keep ordering it and alk is a major consumable that adds up fast. It has been much more economical to just run to the supermarket to grab more alk :-) And I'm actually kinda used to mixing it now as I use a hand blender to mix the bicarbonate/baking soda.