Alkalinity adjustment

herkie

herkie

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Hi all, I asked some advice re. alkalinity and tried the advice I got but wrong results.

My alkalinity was too low and I got some baking powder. After dosing 2 times the reading I get on my test kit goes lower. The reading was 2milli eq before I started and now is at 1,7.

Please help! I have an idea that I am somehow mixed up with the alk and kalkwasser. Can someone please explain it to me one more time. I would like to know the ways and quantities of dosing and measuring.

thanks a stack.(I suggest you type slowly-it might help me understand better.)
 
Baking powder???????:nono: Bicarb is what you looking for, or Sodium Bicarbonate. Did you use the calculators to see how much you must add to your system to raise it to your desired level?
 
what test kit you using and how old is it Herkie?and bicarb it is
 
Yep it has to be Bicarb.
 
Herkie just be careful when making large adjustments to Alkalinity it must be done relatively slowly.
 
Hi Alan - sorry Herkie for jumping in like this....

Is it true that Bicarb of Soda only boosts one's pH to a maximum of 8.2?
I found that if I add kalkwasser (Slaked Lime mixed in water and white vinegar), that my I can manipulate my pH to be slightly higher (up to 8.6).....
 
Is it true that Bicarb of Soda only boosts one's pH to a maximum of 8.2?
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I don't know the actual value, but it isn't very high. Kalk is a great PH booster but adds very little Alkalinity to the system, great when both are used together. Another way to pick up the ph is Sodium Carbonate, i usually mix the carbonate and bicarb to give me a ph of around 8.25-8.30. I use 3tsp bicarb to 1tsp carbonate.
 
jacquesb said:
Hi Alan - what's the common household name for sodium carbonate? (Isn't washing soda?) - Thanks.
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yes it is washing soda. but it is better to make your own by baking sodium bicarb (160oC for about 2-3 hours) as some commercial washing soda's have other stuff like surfactants added to them (I'm actually unsure of whether we get "washing soda" off the shelf here in SA).

Bicarb by itself has a pH of 8.2-8.3 so will not be much help in raising pH levels. A blend like Alan is doing will help maintain your pH at slightly higher levels if this is what you want.
 
I now see I made a simple, but huge mistake. Looks like I have to go back to school to take some reading lessons. I feel very lucky and happy that this fault did not have any visible bad effects on my tank.

Viper calcium is at520 ppm.

Mekaeel Red Sea and its new.

Alan I got some bicarb and will bake and mix the way you said. I think I will be dosing the mixture very slowly and do regular tests to get to the right level

neilharris Thanks for the link, will have a look at it tonight.
 
neilharris I went to the link and find it very nice. It will make life much easier. Thanks again.
 
herkie said:
neilharris I went to the link and find it very nice. It will make life much easier. Thanks again.
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My pleasure, but also please remember to make all changes as gradual as possible. You may find that your lps (if you have any) may not look good after an alk change, this is a sign that you are changing it too fast. Wait for a few days before addding more of your buffer.
HTH,
Neil
 
neilharris said:
My pleasure, but also please remember to make all changes as gradual as possible.
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Agreed - Dripping, or adding small volumes throughout the day would be ideal...

If possible, add it overflow / weir where the water flows down to the sump - the high localised pH will then be diluted in the volume of water in the sump, and the change in the tank's pH will be much smaller.

As a guide, I normally add 4 teaspoons of baked plus 3 teaspoons of normal bicarb dissolved into ~2 liters of RO water to my tank (~1000 liters water) over a period of 2 hours. This results in an increase of about 0.2pH.

Hennie
 
sodium carbonate

:razz: available at protea chemicals 108 bucks for 25 kgs in killarney gardens in capetown if anyone wants to buy into a bag and we divide it let me know
 
Very good price that, i will buy in if you can send it to me in DBN?
 
I will be prepared to take 50% of it. Do you know what grade it is?
 
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