I have some questions on increasing Ca and Alk using Soda Ash and Calcium Chloride.

[slief]

We'll do it this way.
600 gallons Desired Current Level 360........ Desired Level: 420ppm Product:BRS 2 part Calcium mix
Calculate
Need: 3684.7 ml
124.5 fl oz
736.9 tsp
Instructions

This is the most frequently used option, use this option for the Calcium Solution (liquid) in our BRS Two Part Packages. Slowly add the solution to high flow areas of the tank. Avoid directly blasting corals with the concentrated solution. Try not to increase Calcium more than 50 ppm per day. If larger changes are required spread the dose over a few days. Test between additions.

Mixing Notes

When mixing the salts with the filtered water it is best to add a small portion at a time, shake the jug and add more so the salts don't clump up. If it does clump, float the jug in hot water to warm the fluid inside and it should dissolve easier. We recommend allowing the solution to rest at least a couple hours before use so the salts have a chance to fully dissolve.

I didn't select two part when I came up with my calculations. Intead I broke them down seperate into Alk/Sodium Carbonate and Cal/Calcium Chloride to get my numbers. Hopefully it works out the same in the end. I am doing half the suggested total amount today and half tomorrow. I am adding the two solutions via a drip at the same time to opposite ends of my sump. That stuff doesn't taste good either! LOL

The stuff dissolved clear into the RODI. I've got about 3 cups of Calcium Chloride dissolved into 2 gallons of RODI water and 1/2 cup of Soda Ash into 1 gallon of RODI water. Both solutions are dripping into different ends of my sump in high flow areas. I'm not sure why but dosing this stuff into my tank makes me nervous. I will test later this afternoon once the dosing is done and plan on doing the second half tomorrow morning.

 

[DragRacinGramps]

Hahahahaha haven't ever tasted it, sounds like you have a solid plan, like everything else in this hobby there's surely more than one way to skin a cat. I believe you are correct that your way of doing it is going to get you to the same destination in the end. Keep us updated, and if you can post up how much your pH goes up using the soda ash.

 

[ostrow]

OK... Then that is the route I will take. I will dose them both a few minutes apart and do it reasonably slow. Just not sure how slow to go or if I should just dump it in. Will this stuff impact my skimmer? My thought was to dump it in my overfllow. That or I can dump it in between my sump and refugium which is down stream of my sump and sees all the water flow or into the return section of my sump.

I assume it would be best to warm my RODI water to help dissolve the solution before adding the powder?

I never have warned it but it could help!

And I often do one part in the funeral and the other in the sump about 10min apart.

 

[slief]

Hahahahaha haven't ever tasted it, sounds like you have a solid plan, like everything else in this hobby there's surely more than one way to skin a cat. I believe you are correct that your way of doing it is going to get you to the same destination in the end. Keep us updated, and if you can post up how much your pH goes up using the soda ash.

I taste almost everything that goes into my tank. I've been doing that for the last 20 years. If it's good enough for my tank, then it should be good enough for me. At least that's my theory within reason. My pH is being monitored by my Apex. I started out with a pH of about 8.1.. Will report back in a few hours.

 

[ostrow]

If doing a drip you have nothing to worry about at all!!!

 

[slief]

If doing a drip you have nothing to worry about at all!!!

Good to know. I've learned that doing things slowly in this hobby is always best and when it comes to addiing chemicals to my tank, the drip method has always been the safest approach in my mind. It's going to take 5 or so hours I figure to do the entire dose so I will visually monitor my tank and enjoy my Saturday. Updates will follow later tonight when I run some more tests.

 

[slief]

Curiously, how high is safe to allow my pH to increase while dosing? I realize that the increase is only temporary. When I started my dosing, I was at 8.1 and I'm now at 8.36. As such, I am wondering what my cut off should be as I'm about half way through my Soda Ash dosing & about 2/3 though my calcium dosing.

 

[slief]

Todays dosing just finished up. My pH hit 8.52 according to my Apex. I will test my water parameters in a few hours to see what the results of todays dosing is. I will update later with the test results.

 

[DragRacinGramps]

I'm hoping someone will answer your question as to what level of pH is safe to let it rise to when dosing. Mine was also going up to about 8.6 since switching from soda ash to baking soda I don't get this rise in pH.

 

[bertoni]

I think 8.6 should be safe, based on various thread, but 8.4 is a better limit, IMO. I would avoid anything over 8.6.

 

[slief]

I think 8.6 should be safe, based on various thread, but 8.4 is a better limit, IMO. I would avoid anything over 8.6.

It peaked at 8.52 and is on it's way back down. pH is at 8.31 now. My ORP also dropped during the dose from 330 down to 280 but that's on it's way back up. I ran Ca and Alk tests a couple hours after my dose was complete and both came out high. Given my elevated pH and lower ORP I was kind of expecting my results to be skewed. I was leaning towards waiting until the AM for the pH to settle back down but decided to test anyway.. Ca was 460 and Alk 10.2 I'm going to test my Ca, Alk and Mg again in the morning at which point I would expect them to be lower or at least hope they would be.

 

[slief]

pH is back to normal and ORP is just about normal as well. I just ran another round of tests. I may have over estimated my water volume or the amount of Calcium and Soda Ash I measured was off. Either way, my results are fine although Ca is higher than I was expecting.. My lights will be on shortly so I haven't seen my corals yet but I expect everything to be fine and happy.

pH 8.09
Salifert test results:
Alk: 8.7 dkh
Cal is high at 500
Mg 1290

Obviously, I won't be doing the other half dose today. I may slow the effluent down on my Ca reactor. I don't think the CaRx would be impacting my results as it was just setup and only hit it's internal pH target temp early this morning. As such, I don't think it's influencing my test results. Especially with it's 40ml/min effluent rate. I will test my CaRx effluent later today just to see what the Ca and Alk looks like coming out of it.

What these results leave me wondering is if I should do another smaller dose of Soda Ash to raise my Alk a bit more and also whether that will reduce my Ca level? Any advice on that?

 

[ostrow]

Soda ash to get to 9 or so then let time bring to lever you want, it will be a back and forth til you dial in the calcium reactor. Test levels every few days and adjust, with manual adjustments via supplement. Assume you have read Jose's articles in reef keeping??

 

[ostrow]

http://reef.diesyst.com/crarticle/crarticle.htm

 

[slief]

Soda ash to get to 9 or so then let time bring to lever you want, it will be a back and forth til you dial in the calcium reactor. Test levels every few days and adjust, with manual adjustments via supplement. Assume you have read Jose's articles in reef keeping??

I just made a minor adjustment using soda ash.. According to the calculators, I needed about 2.8 tbs of Soda Ash to get me from 8.7 to 9. I used 3 tsp in a gallon of water and just dumped it into my overflow. That should get me to just over 9 dkh. I didn't figure there was any point in dripping such a small amount and given my sump size and water flow, I wouldn't anticipate any negative repercussions. I will test Ca and Alk again in a few hours.

http://reef.diesyst.com/crarticle/crarticle.htm

I had not seen that particular article before but it reaffirms what I've learned and read. I used to run a Ca reactor years back but it was a much less precise setup than what I am using now. Between the variable speed Cole Parmer feed pump pulling water through the reactor and the AquariumPlants digital regulator, I have precise control over the reactors pH without even having my Apex intervene with the Co2 control. While the Apex is controlling the regulator outlet, I've already got the flow/bubble count adjusted to where the pH level in the reactor doesn't drift. Obviously I still need to figure out my tanks consumption and adjust my effluent rate and co2 to match but with this setup, it's extremely easy to make adjustments and dial it in.

 

[rwb500]

for future reference, this is the DIY 2-part bible.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/

 

[bertoni]

Soda ash won't change the calcium level measurably unless it's overdosed quite a bit, or possibly if dosed into a very small volume of water, like a small sump chamber.

 

[slief]

for future reference, this is the DIY 2-part bible.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/

Thanks for the link. I've read that one before but book marked it in case I need it in the future.

Soda ash won't change the calcium level measurably unless it's overdosed quite a bit, or possibly if dosed into a very small volume of water, like a small sump chamber.

Thanks for the feedback. That pretty much echos my experience. There was no change in Ca levles after my Soda ash dose today.