raising ALK via baking soda

[bimmerzs]

@acat1976 wrote:

Jason,

None of the 2-parts are meant for raising level's, they are only meant to maintain them. Using baking soda will raise and/or maintain alk levels, baked baking soda will also maintain your levels <u>and</u> keep your PH up. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2004/chem.htm

Cheers,

 

[DaveJ]

Use the calculator, figure out how much you need to add to get from your current level to the level which you want to maintain, then dose that amount over a course of many days. For example going from 7 - 11 dkh is a 5 dkh bump, you want to do that over the course of 10 days, .5 dkh per day. Take the amount you would need to dose total, divide it by 10 days, then start the dosing. It will actually take you longer than 10 days, because of daily usage, but you should raise slow and steady. Once you reach 11 dkh, if it took more than 10 days (which it should) then take the number of days (say 2 for example) and divide that by the total number of days (2/12). Multiply that by the total amount dosed over the 12 days and that should get you a good starting point for a daily dose.

I would use baked baking soda for it though, baked soda will raise your dkh, but won't help you get your pH up. Dose at night or in the morning when the pH is lower and that will help stabilize it a bit. Once you get everything in balance, your pH should stay pretty flat.

I'd recommend the BRS alkalinity supplement since its cheap and pure. Bionic is a fine product, but expensive for this. Even over time using it to maintain will be more expensive than the BRS products.

Of course you want to do all this at the same time you are getting calcium and magnesium in check.... as your alk rises, it will play with those numbers a bit so get your alk situated and then see where your calcium and magnesium are and adjust them from there.

 

[DaveJ]

@acat1976 wrote:

You bake it to remove the CO2 from it, that turns it from a pH nuetral/slightly lowering compound, to one that raises the pH.

I forget the exact recipe, do a search on Baking Baking Soda... I think its 425 in the oven for 20 minutes, but I could be wrong on that so don't do it without verifying it.

I'd just stick with the BRS stuff, less mess, less hassle and pure.

 

[bimmerzs]

@DaveJ wrote:

They say it's now 400* for 2 hours in the oven..... but like DaveJ said...the BRS stuff is a much better option.

Cheers,

 

[T8T]

So the recipe isnow different than what Randy Holmes Farley prescribes in this link?
300 degrees for 1 hour?
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

I only ask because I am preparing some right now.

 

[mtraylor]

I think you may want to measure your calcium levels in your aquarium. Depending on what the ppm your calcium is where play a big role as to what your DKH will be.

 

[bimmerzs]

@T8T wrote:

Of course it will work, I have seen it mentioned several times that 300* for one hour doesn't alway's quite do it so you may not get quite the ph boost if Co2 is not fully driven out. You can't overcook the stuff so what does it hurt. http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f58/cooking-baking-soda-93757.html

Cheers,

 

[bimmerzs]

@T8T wrote:

Of course it will work, I have seen it mentioned several times that 300* for one hour doesn't alway's quite do it so you may not get quite the ph boost if Co2 is not fully driven out. You can't overcook the stuff so what does it hurt. http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f58/cooking-baking-soda-93757.html

Cheers,

 

[EL34]

Many months ago I went the baked baking soda route, but my API dKH test kit never showed much effect. I learned there's a difference between dKH (calcium hardness) and gKH (total hardness) and theorized since baking soda is SODIUM bicarbonate, not a calcium compound, my test kit might not be reacting to it. I finally used a swimming pool test to check hardness, it was pretty durn high. I went back to calcium-based dKH dosing so I could trust my measurements.

Any comments on this? I may be totally offbase.

 

[EL34]

API has a dKH kit and a dual dKH/gKH kit. Mine is just dKH, what's yours? I was following Farley's recipe and dosing rate, never saw much change. Maybe my dosing was just enough to keep up with usage, dunno.

 

[EL34]

@acat1976 wrote:

I have the same API kit. I guess I was expecting to see a real change after 2-3 weeks of dosing baked baking soda but I didn't. Looking back I wish I had measured the 1 gallon concentrated solution I made, it should have measured off the richter scale.

 

[T8T]

@bimmerzs wrote:

Of course it will work, I have seen it mentioned several times that 300* for one hour doesn't alway's quite do it so you may not get quite the ph boost if Co2 is not fully driven out. You can't overcook the stuff so what does it hurt. http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f58/cooking-baking-soda-93757.html

Cheers,"]

Very good... Just for the heck of it I baked it for another hour at 400. Thanks Ron.

 

[DaveJ]

@T8T wrote:

Of course it will work, I have seen it mentioned several times that 300* for one hour doesn't alway's quite do it so you may not get quite the ph boost if Co2 is not fully driven out. You can't overcook the stuff so what does it hurt. http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f58/cooking-baking-soda-93757.html

Cheers,"]

Very good... Just for the heck of it I baked it for another hour at 400. Thanks Ron."]

Better than being half baked uh??

 

[Rick]

I have been using baked baking soda for years to supplement my alkalinity. My calcium reactor just will not keep it where I want. The baking does burn off the co2 which will help with the Ph and should be used with tanks that tend to be lower Ph tanks, as it will not cause any lowering of the Ph when you first put it in as the unbaked baking soda will. But with tanks that tend to stay on the higher end in Ph using the unbaked baking soda is fine, as when you first add it the co2 in it will tend to lower the Ph slightly but with the Co2 burning out of the tank with good water circulation and gas exchange the Ph will go up the same as using the baked baking soda, in the end they act exactly the same. The reasoning behind using the baked baking soda and burning off the Co2 beforehand is that in tanks with that already tend to be low in Ph, you would not want to lower it anymore by not burning off the Co2 beforehand. And I usually wait 24 hours before testing the alkalinity after adding the baked baking soda, but it will raise the alkalinity. I mix about 1/4 cup with ro/di and it will raise mine about 1-2 dkh in a 220 gallon tank.

 

[EL34]

Here's something I found today with a lot of chemistry info at a moderate level. Although not necessary, it would be nice to have been through at least one semester of chemistry to better understand the reactions. It's a loooong read but much of it can be skimmed over as it deals a lot with freshwater. It includes a discussion of kalkwasser, calcium reactors, and other dosing schemes.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumKH.html

What I learned-
1/ I was wrong thinking 'alk' and 'hardness' were synonymous.
2/ KH is Alkalinity, not hardness, and has a significant impact on regulating pH unless it's depleted
3/ GH is hardness, not alkalinity, and has minimal affect on pH
4/ Good levels of alkalinity AND calcium are more important than a deadnuts pH.
5/ Baking soda can definitely be used to increase alkalinity but it's much better to use it in conjunction with calcium, magnesium, strontium, and other 'partnering' carbonates and bicarbonates which are all necessary for tissue health. I guess that means also using the alk products formulated for aquariums along with the Arm&Hammer. Rick is prolly doing it right, saying he uses baking soda to supplement alk.