Soda Ash problem

[SquareFace]

I have switched over to dosing from Seachem Reef Advantage Carbonate/Bi-carbonate to BRS soda ash and the soda is precipitating all over my glass, even though I'm following the instructions. Now I find myself scraping the white layer from the glass every day. The solution is dripping throughout the night very slowly to avoid precipitation and it still happens. I mix 8 oz to a gallon of water and add 10 oz of the mixed solution every night. My magnesium is at 1350 ppm and my calcium is at 400 ppm (my goal is 420 ppm). The ALK is stuck at 8 dkh. Any suggestion?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MikeG]

Are you adding it in a high flow area? Not surewhy it would precipitate with the parameters you listed. Yo could try a different product. I use arm an hammer baking oda if I need to adjust alkalinity. Randy Holmes Farley posted an article on home made 2 part many years ago http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/ could try that if you haven't and see if you ge the same result If you mix up fresh salt water and leaving a pump tio mix, try adding your solution to that and see if you get precipitation as well.

This is generally only an issue with super saturated sea water or if you have extremely low magnesium.

 

[delta]

I have switched over to dosing from Seachem Reef Advantage Carbonate/Bi-carbonate to BRS soda ash and the soda is precipitating all over my glass, even though I'm following the instructions. Now I find myself scraping the white layer from the glass every day. The solution is dripping throughout the night very slowly to avoid precipitation and it still happens. I mix 8 oz to a gallon of water and add 10 oz of the mixed solution every night. My magnesium is at 1350 ppm and my calcium is at 400 ppm (my goal is 420 ppm). The ALK is stuck at 8 dkh. Any suggestion?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How big is your tank? 10 oz is a lot that is around 300ml

 

[SquareFace]

It's a 55 gallons tank. 10 oz of the mixed solution has 0.625 oz of the dry soda ash.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SquareFace]

I also have a 20 gallons sump. The total volume is 75 gallons.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SquareFace]

I drip the solution right in front of a Vortec.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[delta]

That is almost 6ml/gallon of course it is precipitating out. that is more than I add to my system to raise it 1DKH and my display alone is 4 time the size of your tank.

How did you calculate what you needed? are you going by a calculator?

Figure out what your daily usage is by starting with randy's formula to get you tank balanced, then raise Ca and ALk levels to your desired value

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

 

[frank180reef]

Odd that his alk isn't sky high

 

[Jim Tansey]

BRS has a calculator for your product on their web page, 39 ml or 1.3 oz of the mix will raise 55 gal 1 dKH.

jim

 

[Jim Tansey]

I just had a thought of what you may be doing, the calculator gives the amount of the mixed solution to add not the amount of dry Soda Ash. For whatever reason you are adding many times the amount required.

jim

 

[delta]

Odd that his alk isn't sky high

It won't be it is precipitating out which can actually lower it

 

[SquareFace]

What would be the right amount of Soda Ash I should add daily until it reaches 10 dkh? After that I just need to figure out the maintenance dosage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SquareFace]

I used the BRS calculator.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jim Tansey]

If you used the BRS calculator simply fill out the tank volume, current Alk, & desired Alk it will tell you how much of the MIX to add. Its best to limit the change to less than 1 dHK/day. If your using the calculator I can't understand why your adding so much Soda Ash the Soda Ash should be mixed with DI water at a ratio of two cups to one gallion of DI water an about an oz of this mix added to the tank per day until your at the desired value.

jim

PS..... Make sure you are using the correct units with the calculator for example it is required to change to dHK.

 

[delta]

What would be the right amount of Soda Ash I should add daily until it reaches 10 dkh? After that I just need to figure out the maintenance dosage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

that is going backwards. Figure out the daily dose then adjust. see the calculators are just rough estimates they take no other conditions into consideration. So until you know the daily consumption you can't figure out the exact amount to raise it 1dkh let alone how many day you will need to add X to reach 10dkh. Plus you have been precipitating it out of solution so it may take even more time to straighten out to normal.

The other thing you have not mentioned is if you using this as a two part system with the calcium additive. Meaning are you adding it in equal parts Ca and ALk to maintain the Ca & Alk levels

 

[ro_nicu]

if you have been precipitating heavily I would QUIT the dosing for a while, like a week, do some water changes, probably 15-20% every day to make sure you start with something as close to the normal seawater mix as possible and restart dosing after. God knows what else has been precipitating considering the amount of precipitation you described. Or at least test the water, I suspect that some of your MAG precipitated as well. Did you dose MAG all this time? Did you dose CA? your mag and ca numbers looks too good for a system that precipitated heavily, unless you've been dosing that too.

 

[Overlook reef]

^+1 to that! I would quit dosing and do some water changes. Also, what alk tester are you using?