Washing powder to increase Alkalinity

[Satori]

My calcium reactor is broke and I needed to bring up my alkalinity until the new parts come in, so I did this:

"Spread baking soda (594 grams or about 2 ¼ cups) on a baking tray and heat in an ordinary oven at 300 °F for 1 hour to drive off water and carbon dioxide. Dissolve the residual solid in enough water to make 1 gallon total. This dissolution may require a fair amount of mixing. Warming it speeds the dissolution process. This solution will contain about 1,900 meq/L of alkalinity (5,300 dKH). I prefer to use baked baking soda rather than washing soda in this recipe as baking soda from a grocery store is always food grade, while washing soda may not have the same purity requirements. Arm & Hammer brand is a fine choice.

I mixed the baked baking soda with 1 gallon of water and added 1 cup to the tank, which although I don't see any ill effects, was a little too much at once.

My pH went from 8.29 to 9.52 instantly, and over the course of the last hour has dropped back down to 8.42.

My alk (kH) went from 5.1 to 7.7.

I'll wait until tomorrow and add 1/4 cup at a time until I get it up to 9 or so, as long as the calcium and pH stay acceptable.

Anyway, thought this was good information to share.

 

[clkwrk]

Careful sps and bacteria in your system don't like quick rises.

Also the above quote is from Randys 2 part diy additive

Here is the link you should use to figure out what how much you need.

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

 

[clkwrk]

1.4 oz will bring you up 1 dkh based on a 200g water volume. I say you over did it

Oh and if your tanks PH is normally around 8.2- 8.3 you can just use regular baking soda as it will have a small downward effect but not much with your tank . You don't have a ph problem so co2 is non issue.

 

[Satori]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7569270#post7569270 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by clkwrk
1.4 oz will bring you up 1 dkh based on a 200g water volume. I say you over did it

Definitely did. Thanks for the link to the article. I'm keeping an eye on things, but it's kinda like introducing a frag to a new system with different parameters, is it not? As long as it doesn't vary that much day to day, a one time jump like this is like a one time acclimation?

 

[clkwrk]

Yeah that chemistry calculator is great . I like the flash version its animated :lol:

Also I would just keep an eye on things a jump 2+ points is large and not like a 1 time aclimation ..well depending how you acclimate. With sps I just let them get some air for a few mins and then I place into the display or qt haven't lost any that way yet . But theres not much you can do except watch for any negative reactions and dose the right amount these next few days and you will be back to where you need to be and then just dose what you consume daily to maintain.

 

[Satori]

I acclimate sps the same way. I'll definitely be watching things. I've been staring at it since I did this. :hmm5: