Baking Soda ,ph, and alkalinity

[fishy123]

I read your article "How to Change Water in Your Reef Aquarium", and wanted to know what type of baking soda you use to increase your ph and alkalinity. Where I live in Canada there are 2 types of baking soda: refrigerator and cooking baking soda.

I've also heard other people using 1 box of washing soda and 6 boxes of baking soda mixed together to increase their ph and alkalinity. I was wondering if you used the same method or what else.

I also have a question on my ph and alkalinity. They are usually unbalanced, meaning for example my ph is usually 77-79 and my alkalinity is 7-9dkh and was wondering if you had any suggestions on how to balance them out.

Thanks in advance

[fishy123]

I also forgot to mention for the last part of my thread (unbalanced ph and alkalinity) the calcium is usually 420ppm

thanks

[melev]

Hi fishy123. We have a product in the U.S. called Arm & Hammer Baking Soda. We do use it to keep the smells out of our refrigerators. http://www.amazon.com/Arm-Hammer-Pur.../dp/B0005ZXPY8

We also have Baking Powder, which is an entirely different thing.

Using Baking Soda, I bake a box of it before I use it. It is spread out evenly on a cookie sheet and placed in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. This bakes out the CO2, which would drive pH down somewhat. I allow it to cool, then pour it into an airtight container.

Using a few teaspoons of this pre-baked baking soda, I mix it in a cup of RO water and then pour some into the tank or mixing barrel while keeping an eye on the pH meter to see what the pH is rising to.

I've never mixed up washing soda and baking soda.

In my experience, as pH rises so does alkalinity. So if your alkalinity measures 7 dKH, I would expect pH to be 7.7 or 7.8 And if your alkalinity is around 10 dKH, pH should be around 8.1-8.2

[reeflover101]

where did u get the blue 55 gallon barrols

[melev]

I was driving and saw a country feed & grain store selling them. You can buy them online from places like USPlastics.com brand new. Mine were $12 each and took a long time to get them clean as they smelled very strongly of Dr. Pepper syrup.