Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
weather has cooled a bit, AC is off and windows are wide open. Go make your alkalinity supplement!
good day to bake some baking soda
- Thread starter Gary Majchrzak
- Start date
block head
New member
Is baking your own alk supplement cheaper or better than buying BRS? I don't recall 2 part being very expensive.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
somebody figure out the cost comparison. I never purchased BRS alk.
I know that one box baking soda costs between 99 cents and $1.25.
One gallon RO water costs 2 cents to make ?
One hour in the oven at 300F probably costs.. I dunno... a buck?
So figuring in 15 minutes labor... a gallon of home made recipe one (sodium carbonate) alk supplement costs roughly 3 bucks to make. Sound about right?
How much is the BRS supplement?
cardiffgiant
Active member
Significantly cheaper. BRS charges $12 for 4lbs, and another $10 for shipping. You can reduce that by combining the order with other items, or by buying in bulk.
My preference is to bake it and mix with RO/DI as needed, instead of storing it dry. Soda ash absorbs water over time, converting it from anhydrous (no water) sodium carbonate to the decahydrate form (i.e. washing soda).
cardiffgiant
Active member
You need to bake at 300 for at least an hour. I bake mine at 400 for an hour an a half. I mentioned that once and Gary told me to remind him not have me bake him a cake.
I find that the higher temperature helps to dissolve it in RO/DI. Here is the Randy Holmes article on 2 part. Great information.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php/
I find that the higher temperature helps to dissolve it in RO/DI. Here is the Randy Holmes article on 2 part. Great information.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php/
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
:lmao:
I didn't realize heating the soda longer and hotter makes it dissolve into water easier. Here's another tip: heating the water makes it dissolve quicker, too. I heat the water before adding the sodium carbonate.
block head
New member
Y
Sounds fair to me. I bought a 37 year supply for about 10$. The wife strokes out when i entertain thoughts of using her oven. I don't pay electric, but i know the oven eats up power. My brs order had free shipping and group pricing. I bought gallon containers which is ridiculous for my needs.
Sounds fair to me. I bought a 37 year supply for about 10$. The wife strokes out when i entertain thoughts of using her oven. I don't pay electric, but i know the oven eats up power. My brs order had free shipping and group pricing. I bought gallon containers which is ridiculous for my needs.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
demand for Ca/ alk in my aquarium is ridiculous.
I bought a BRS 5 gallon bucket of kalkwasser and I go through liquid alk and Ca supplement like there's no tomorrow. That's in ADDITION to regular 50 gallon water changes and running a calcium reactor.
Thank goodness Arm & Hammer is dirt cheap.
I bought a BRS 5 gallon bucket of kalkwasser and I go through liquid alk and Ca supplement like there's no tomorrow. That's in ADDITION to regular 50 gallon water changes and running a calcium reactor.
Thank goodness Arm & Hammer is dirt cheap.
If you heat up washing soda, it will turn back into the anhydrous sodium carbonate that we use right? So, buying a whole bunch at once isn't a huge deal?
cardiffgiant
Active member
Not a huge deal, buuuut having to bake it defeats the purpose of buying it "pre-baked" from BRS, and unless I can visually tell that the sodium bicarbonate has absorbed moisture, I don't know whether or not it needs to be baked.
Capt_Cully
Active member
What is the liquid alk & cal supplement you use Gary.
Are you considering kalk and baking soda a team as well or do you use kalk for topoff and the baking soda to season to taste for your pH?
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
"Home made B-ionic". "Randy's Recipe". Recipe one / the original recipe that boosts pH using sodium carbonate (baked baking soda).
Kalk is topoff for evap. You know it supplements Ca and alk evenly as well as boosts pH. The boost in pH triggers the calium reactor to fire up. I use liquid two part in addition to kalk and the Ca reactor because calcium and alkalinity in my aquarium still slides downwards.
Water changes help boost everything but I especially need it to help with Mg levels. Sometimes I add a Mg supplement instead of a water change but the best results I've ever gotten are from regular water changes.
When I add liquid two parts I use the 100 ml. BRS measuring cups. (Usually requires a boost of 200- 400mls when/if I test alkalinity.)
Long gone are the days I used those little 10ml shot glasses or B-ionic caps to measure liquid two parts.
OK, I am confused. I am about 4 months into the hobby, having bought an existing 30gal set up in March (I've had several freshwater tanks over the past years). When I bought it the tank had 2 small power heads, a heater, dual 3watt 36" flourescent tubes, and a tetra 20 hang on filter. I added a hang on protein skimmer, replaced the tetra 20 with a tetra 60 (removed the bacteria media), replaced the simple ballast with a 4 bulb T5 with timer and moonlights and replaced the cheap power heads with more powerful ones. I do a 9 gal water change using reef crystals and RO/DI 5 stage weekly. In the last 2 months I've observed a gorgeous purple coralline encrustation and am beginning to see my corals (all babies) begin to show growth. I guess that is the extend of my knowledge.
What exactly are you doing/talking about in this thread and why? And thank you.
What exactly are you doing/talking about in this thread and why? And thank you.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
growing calcifying organisms (ie: coralline alga, corals etc.) deplete alkalinity (and calcium, among other things) in a reef aquarium. This thread is about preparing a home made liquid alkalinity supplement.
All reefkeepers should own a reliable alkalinity and calcium test kit as well as a refractometer.
All reefkeepers should own a reliable alkalinity and calcium test kit as well as a refractometer.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
Unless you perform routine 100% water changes, at some point calcium and alkalinity levels will get skewed. Personally, I prefer to keep calcium between 420-450ppm and alkalinity between 8- 11 dKH.
Alkalinity being the more important of the two.
Alkalinity being the more important of the two.
Baking it longer and hotter makes it more anhydrous, Less water and less CO2( 350 for one hour is good, 450 for one hour is super dry); you can't over bake it . Baking soda is HCO3, bicarbonate it has room for 1 H+ proton to park and offers 1 alk unit. CO3 has two parking spots and double the alkalinity . If your ph is high you can use it unbaked.
