Alkalinity and calcium balance

O

odin5738

Member
What is the most effective and easiest way to balance alkalinity and calcium levels?
I've been using Tech CB and can't seem to get my alkalinity level up. I'm concerened I'm adding to much of the product to my system. Is this product any good or is there a more effective way to maintain the levels?
 
You may need a one time correction to balance you out before using the 2-part effectively.

Correct your alk level with baking soda (Arm & Hammer) to where you want to be, then proceed with your 2-part dosing. Then you should be ok.

Use jd's chemicals calculator for the appropriate dosage requirements.

Good luck. :)
 
Where can I find jd's chemical calculator and will it inform me of how much baking soda to add at a time?
Thanks for the response.
 
Thanks for the link. Does baking soda effect PH the same way as part B of Tech CB? I think I may have to do the one time adjustment like your recommending.
 
I'm going to try baking soda and according to jd the ph will drop slightly. My ph is already low----day ph 8.03 and I'll check the ph in the morning. My alkalinity is low 100ppm. I could raise it with tech cb but not much more than 120ppm. My calcium level is fine 420ppm or so. I'm going to start dripping the baking soda in tonight mixed with RO water.

Any suggetions?
 
If your pH is low, you can bake the baking soda before you use it.

Baking drives off the CO<sub>2</sub> that lowers pH and actually has a rising effect.

Spread the baking soda on a cookie sheet and bake for 1 hr at 325 deg.
 
I dripped in about 1/2 the baking soda recomended by jd's and it increased my alkalinity from 2.0 to 2.75 meq/lt. My calcium stayed at 420ppm. I'll add the rest tonight and bring it above 3 meq/lt. I could'nt get this kind of response from Tech CB. I added and added part B to my tank until my coral started to look unhappy with little increase. That's when I got concerned and started this thread. Does anyone know why this is the case or is this product not very good? I think I'll give Randy's two part recipie a try.
 
So if your PH is not low do you just add the baking soda to a gallon of water?
From what I read on the recipe it appears so ? Just checking :)
 
If you use plain unbaked baking soda then the pH effects will be to lower the pH but on a temporary basis. Baking the Baking soda will temporarily raise the pH.
 
define temporary for me? :)

i've been dosing about '...' that much each day, and it works out to be about how much i need on a weekly basis. my ph is usually just a little low, but its pretty good--8.1 in the mornings 8.2 at the end of the day. i would love to have 8.3 all the time...

is it too high and i'm keeping it low by dosing daily or is my unbaked dosing keeping it artifically low when it should be right on?

odin how's yours going?

tim
 
With in a couple of hours the pH will most likely return to its normal (for your tank) level.

Your pH levels are at great levels! If you change to the higher pH formula it would probably get you to that 8.3 you seek.

Good Luck!
 
After adding all the baking soda and increasing my alkalinity to 3 meq/Lt. from 2 the ph remained about the same, maybe increased a little. I'm going to finish out the Tech CB and change to Randy's 2 part. I hope Tech CB can maintain my calcium/alkalinity balance.
Does anyone know if Tech CB has magnesium in it?
 
As far as I know, none of the commercial two parts tell you how much of anything is in them, aside from calcium and alkalinity, but it likely has some magnesium. :)
 
I'm jumping in to seek some advice too.

I have been dosing SeaChem Reef Buffer and can't get my alk above 150ppm. I'm currently dosing 200ml a day of alk to attempt to raise my pH above 8.5 to battle a dinoflagellette problem. I have ceased dosing Calc to raise my alk. My alk tested last night at 140ppm after 5 days of this. My alk is going down but my pH is going up, 8.3 last night. I don't understand.

Would I be better off dosing the "baked" baking soda for a quick bump in pH? How can I sustain this pH increase temporarily while I fight the dino problem? Thank you for your help.
 
I am uncomfortable with the "mixing many chemicals myself" If you can get the alk up with the "baked soda" what would be the best for calcium? I think this is on point, and not a thread-jack ;/
 
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