How much baking soda for 5 gallon?

[Megatrev62]

Is there a simple answer to this?:

How much baking soda would one add to a 5 gallon bucket of RO water to use for alk purposes? Is it a matter of adding enough to get a 8.2 ph reading? Thanks

 

[gbru316]

as in, the alk part of a 2 part additive?

 

[RA]

None. Are you adding salt to this water? If so that will determine the PH. Or what are you using the water for?

 

[nystang]

Here is a Reef Calculator
http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html

 

[E Rosewater]

Depends on how much your tank needs, and how fast you are adding it.

 

[disc1]

Depends on how much your tank needs, and how fast you are adding it.

There's the answer. Use the calculator linked above to figure out how much it will take to get you to your target level. Once you are at your target level, don't do any dosing but test daily until you can determine how much it falls in one day. Then that is how much alkalinity you need to add every day. Go back to the calculator to see how much baking soda that will take. If it is going in through your ATO, then you need to have that much baking soda in however much water your tank evaporates in a day.

 

[Megatrev62]

Thanks all. I'll give it a try with the calculator. In the meantime,my tank does not consume mush on a daily basis as I really don't have very many hard corals. Alc. doesn't move much in a 24 hour period.

 

[bertoni]

In that case, you probably can just try measuring the alkalinity every week or so for a while, and try to ignore small changes in the alkalinity. 10% variation from test to test probably is within the error rate, for example.

 

[Megatrev62]

Thank you.

 

[bertoni]

You're welcome!

 

[radicaltimes]

Why not just mix up a gallon ? Google Randys two part for info

 

[grcforce327]

I've been adding a heaping tablespoon to my 5gal topoff containers for alkalinity.It's been keeping the alkalinity at 8.5 to 9 dKH on my 120g setup.

 

[Megatrev62]

I've been adding a heaping tablespoon to my 5gal topoff containers for alkalinity.It's been keeping the alkalinity at 8.5 to 9 dKH on my 120g setup.

Thanks, that helps.

 

[radicaltimes]

It depends on what your aquarium is using. A heaping tablespoon in 5 gallons of water would have very little effect on a 120 gallon setup. My ATO replaces 13 gallons of water with 26 teaspoons of Mrs.Wages a week in my 120 reef, I am also dosing 70ml each of CA and KH (Randys two part recipe)to keep everything in balance. On top of that I do a 20 gallon a week water change with Reef Crystals. I keep my CA around 450 and KH around 11.If you did not have a high demand for CA and KH in your aquarium water changes should be enought. What ever you do always test before dosing and after on a regular basis.

 

[sn4265]

Can you really add baking soda for Alk into your ATO bucket? Can I do this while also adding Kalk into the ATO? I had never heard of adding Alk via ATO, but this sure would make things easier.

One other question... I saw an article that had 2 recipes for Alk buffer using baking soda. The first one was to simply mix the baking soda into a gallon of water while the second one said to bake the baking soda for an hour first and then add significantly more to a gallon of water. Any thoughts and/or experiences with the differences between these two methods?

 

[disc1]

Can you really add baking soda for Alk into your ATO bucket? Can I do this while also adding Kalk into the ATO? I had never heard of adding Alk via ATO, but this sure would make things easier.

One other question... I saw an article that had 2 recipes for Alk buffer using baking soda. The first one was to simply mix the baking soda into a gallon of water while the second one said to bake the baking soda for an hour first and then add significantly more to a gallon of water. Any thoughts and/or experiences with the differences between these two methods?

You can't do both alkalinity and kalk. They won't mix and will precipitate each other.

There are two formulations. The one where you bake it will have a temporary pH raising effect. Not as much as kalk but you'll still have to be careful how fast you add it.

The recipe where you don't bake it will have very little effect on your pH. It also takes twice as much for the same change in alkalinity. Google "Randy DIY 2 part" and the main article should be the first hit. It explains it all.

 

[SloppyWhenWet]

mg, cal and alk all affect each other.

 

[bertoni]

mg, cal and alk all affect each other.

That's actually not true on average. For our tanks, unless one of those parameters is far out of the acceptable range, calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium are completely independent within our measuring limits.

 

[rocride]

is this a mix for a stock solution for dosing?

if so for 5 gallons
soda ash-2970 grams or 2.97 kilograms or 11.25 cups
baking soda-1485 grams or 1.5 kilograms or 5.625 cups (5 5/8)

two part

 

[mayjong]

yes, that is what i use. Randys recipe is very easy
although i only mix 1G at a time.