Baking Soda.. How much?

[One_Divided]

I want to raise my alk about 1-2DKH.. I was thinking of just trying baking soda.. does anyone know the right measurements for how much to use per gallon etc.?

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

Gulp....eh...its not quite so simple. Alkalinity is measure of how resistant it is to pH changes, but it involves two compounds...carbonates and bicarbonates. By adding baking soda, you are only adding one of the two compounds. The other compound is washing soda. I believe the ratio is 6 to 1 (baking vs washing)...I think [img]smile.gif[/img] Without washing soda, the alk can be elevated but it is less stable over time (i.e. burns off faster than usual).

Best way to work out how much you need to mix some saltwater. Measure dkH. Add a known amount of baking soda. Re-measure dkH. I think it should be pretty close to what commercial buffers (somewhere around 0.5 dkH per tblspoon per 20 gallons) since 60% to 90% of the commercial stuff is baking soda.

- Victor.

[ 30 July 2002, 15:58: Message edited by: reefburnaby ]

[Tau2301]

Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) lowers pH, Washing Soda (Sodium Chloride) raises pH.

A balanced mix is 6:1 respectively.

One teaspoon per 25 gallons of water to raise dKh by one point.

Note: I don't recommend Washing Soda as good source of Sodium Chloride I have bought a PH Raiser for swimming pools at Canadin Tire. $3.99 for 2kg.

[One_Divided]

thanks victor... definaelty not worth buying the commercial stuff heheh.

I'm now getting out my saliferts and testing away...

[One_Divided]

Tau2301, that can't be true becuase in my testing I added 1/4 tsp of baking soda to 1 1/2 liter of water and it shot over the chart.

[Aquattro]

Originally posted by One_Divided:
Tau2301, that can't be true becuase in my testing I added 1/4 tsp of baking soda to 1 1/2 liter of water and it shot over the chart.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Adam, that is the recommended dosage. His numbers are correct. You added enough to the 1.5 L to raise it ~25dKH. (off the top of my head, don't feel like doing math right now).
That is certainly of the chart.

[One_Divided]

"Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) lowers pH"

This is what I was saying can't be true.. not the numbers he gave..

[Aquattro]

Originally posted by One_Divided:
"Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) lowers pH"

This is what I was saying can't be true.. not the numbers he gave..

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ahh.....

[Tau2301]

I use baking soda to lower the pH in my tank. This was especially helpful after I had added a bunch of home made reef rock.

The only other good source of information is at Reef Cemtral. That is where I got my info from.

Here is a link to a question I had posed to Randy Holmes-Farley about Washing Soda.
Washing Soda - whats that smell

[naesco]

How can you argue with a chemist. I read that baking soda raises the PH. Interestingly enough it did. Or, was it baking powder?

[ 30 July 2002, 19:27: Message edited by: naesco ]