Making Sodium Carbonate can be fun!

[Woodstock]

When preparing more alkalinity buffer today, I decided to take pics of the process and share them with you

Because my reef has chronically low ph (house has horribly high co2), I always use sodium carbonate instead of sodium bicarbonate. Thanks to Randy H. Farley, I learned the difference in the two types and how to make my own! An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Below are pictures to show how simple it is.


1 lb. of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

Spread evenly on a cookie sheet

Bake at 300 deg F for one hour

After it cools, I spoon it into a glass jar for storage.

Use the Reef Chemistry Calculator to determine the amount to use.

Enjoy!

 

[Gina]

Very Easy!
Thanks for the great info Doni!
And what free movie are you going to get from Blockbuster?! LOL

 

[Woodstock]

LOL

 

[Dentoid]

Thanks Woody! I'm sure this is cheaper than B-Ionic.

 

[boozeman]

...and a cool thing to tell your friends when they ask what you were doing on a sat. night

 

[Woodstock]

Hehe... I am married and it shows

 

[Frankie]

Where would this hobby be without our female reefers!?
Thanks Doni!

 

[BigAl07]

Is that it? That's all you do or are there "other" things that need to be done to compare this "2-part" mix for the aquarium? That just seems VERY simple.

Allen

 

[Woodstock]

This is showing just the alkalinity part. You will need the calciuma and magnesium parts to make a complete 2-part supplement. Next time I make my magnesium mixture, I will take a few pics.

 

[Dentoid]

Patty-cake-patty-cake-bakers-man
bake-me-a-cake-as-fast-as-you-can!

 

[blue_eyes53813]

Patty-cake-patty-cake-bakers-man
bake-me-a-cake-as-fast-as-you-can!

Lol

Dont ya mean?. bake me some carbonate as fast as you can..

 

[Woodstock]

Lol~

 

[DrHank]

On the same theme, if you are making Randy's two part. Watch out on the Dowflake. Dowflake has changed and the new version is not reef safe. I'll try to get a link posted as soon as I can.

 

[mempho reefer]

Who would have ever thought that baking and reef keeping would go hand in hand?

 

[BEELZEBOB]

Who would have ever thought that baking and reef keeping would go hand in hand?

he he he, depends on your associations with the words "baking" and "reefing":smoking:

 

[BigAl07]

:LOL: Bob to the rescue! What did you "Plume Alert" go off when someone typed the word "Bake"? Bob you crack me up buddy!!

Doni, expect some PM's from me about this!! I'm intrigued yet hungry now!! I wonder if I can bake diner and the reef stuff at the same time. It might taste like pizza but that's ok too

A.

 

[antdizzle]

let me ask, whats the purpose of baking it ? what does this serve ?

 

[l3fty999]

let me ask, whats the purpose of baking it ? what does this serve ?

According to the article, it makes brain cells, er, I mean, the baking soda more soluble... check out the link Woodstock posted at the beginning of the thread, it's kinda interesting.

Aaron

 

[UTCreefer]

Is that it? That's all you do or are there "other" things that need to be done to compare this "2-part" mix for the aquarium? That just seems VERY simple.

Allen

To make it more like B-ionic you need to mix it with water. Thats where baking it helps, it makes it more soluble.

For the calcium part i just use Hardness Plus from Leslie Pool Supply and mix 400g with 1 gallon of water. Be careful though its exothermic and gets hot when it gets wet. I always wear gloves because its caustic to skin.

 

[Woodstock]

This thread refers to only one part of the 'two part' system. The second part is calcium chloride.

Baking the baking soda drives out Co2 and turns the baking soda from Sodium Bicarbonate into Sodium carbonate.
Both 'dissolve' the same but one brings more Co2 with it and the other does not. The effects of both act upon the water's PH very differently. Sodium carbonate will initially increase the PH of your water significantly whereas sodium bicarbonate might initially lower the PH a tad.