Second New DIY Two Part Recipe with Higher pH Boost

Muffin87 · Apr 30, 2023

Hi @Randy Holmes-Farley
Is it impossible to combine either magnesium sulfate heptahydrate and magnesium chloride hexahydrate with the sodium hydroxide solution?
I'd imagine the Magnesium chloride and the sodium hydroxide would precipitate, but what about the magnesium sulfate heptahydrate?

The NaCl-free sea salt by Aquaforest can be combined with calcium, but it doesn't have magnesium.
So if I could combine sodium hydroxide with a form of magnesium, I'd get a real 2-part keeping ionic balance, and I'd save dosing head.

Thanks a lot!

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 1, 2023

Muffin87 said:
Hi @Randy Holmes-Farley
Is it impossible to combine either magnesium sulfate heptahydrate and magnesium chloride hexahydrate with the sodium hydroxide solution?
I'd imagine the Magnesium chloride and the sodium hydroxide would precipitate, but what about the magnesium sulfate heptahydrate?

The NaCl-free sea salt by Aquaforest can be combined with calcium, but it doesn't have magnesium.
So if I could combine sodium hydroxide with a form of magnesium, I'd get a real 2-part keeping ionic balance, and I'd save dosing head.

Thanks a lot!

Any combination of magnesium and hydroxide will result in precipitation of magnesium hydroxide, which is quite insoluble.

Jasonak · May 1, 2023

I know people are using driveway melt. I found this that has a MSDS for it. Has anyone tried this ? I just didn't want my mailman to carry 50lb bad of peadlow to my door. The other stuff I was looking at was 14.00 for 2lbs but it was food grade.

https://images.thdstatic.com/catalog/pdfImages/64/64447266-3627-4320-8efd-63b8b122c4b1.pdf

Jasonak · May 1, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Alk part

Add 283 grams of sodium hydroxide to 1 gallon of fresh water. It will get quite warm. Make sure it doesn't soften your container. This solution will contain about 1,900 meq/L of alkalinity (5,300 dKH). BE CAREFUL WITH THIS SOLUTION: IT HAS A pH ABOVE 14. Do not get it in your eyes or on your skin.

Can I mix this in 1/2 - 3/4 gallon of water and then top off to one gallon ?
Also 283 grams is about a half a cup ? is that correct ?
thanks

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 2, 2023

Jasonak said:
I know people are using driveway melt. I found this that has a MSDS for it. Has anyone tried this ? I just didn't want my mailman to carry 50lb bad of peadlow to my door. The other stuff I was looking at was 14.00 for 2lbs but it was food grade.

https://images.thdstatic.com/catalog/pdfImages/64/64447266-3627-4320-8efd-63b8b122c4b1.pdf

I do not know if that material is suitably pure or not.

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 2, 2023

Jasonak said:
Can I mix this in 1/2 - 3/4 gallon of water and then top off to one gallon ?
Also 283 grams is about a half a cup ? is that correct ?
thanks

Yes, you can dissolve it more concentrated then dilute. Note it can get hot. More concentrated yields a higher temperature.

The dry bulk density will vary brand to brand, but 283 grams of sodium hydroxide is about 253 mL of some brands, which is 1.07 cups.

Jasonak · May 2, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Yes, you can dissolve it more concentrated then dilute. Note it can get hot. More concentrated yields a higher temperature.

The dry bulk density will vary brand to brand, but 283 grams of sodium hydroxide is about 253 mL of some brands, which is 1.07 cups.

Thank you sir !

Jasonak · May 8, 2023

Im using apex DOS anyone got a link to silicone hose that will fit that ? I bought some but the coupler dosent want to fit over the hose.

Jasonak · May 8, 2023

Believe I found some.

bozo · May 8, 2023

Just want to confirm if this new recipe is called “Randy’s Recipe 2 Calcium Part” on the reef calculator https://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

Thanks!

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 8, 2023

It matches my recipe 1 in potency.

bozo · May 8, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
It matches my recipe 1 in potency.

Thank you!

So I'll use the new recipe and then choose "Randy's Recipe 2" on the calculator when supplementing my new saltwater.

Fritz's RPM blue bucket NSW gives me low CAL and MAG.

Thanks again!

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 9, 2023

CON CAC said:
Thank you!

So I'll use the new recipe and then choose "Randy's Recipe 2" on the calculator when supplementing my new saltwater.

Fritz's RPM blue bucket NSW gives me low CAL and MAG.

Thanks again!

No, it matches recipe #1, not recipe #2.

bozo · May 9, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
No, it matches recipe #1, not recipe #2.

Gotcha.

Thanks for the clarification.

So what and where is Recipe 2?

I thought this thread was a newer and improved version of your 2006 recipe stated in http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

Sorry for the dumb questions lol.

I'm only familiar with the 2006 recipe.

Thanks!

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 9, 2023

CON CAC said:
Gotcha.

Thanks for the clarification.

So what and where is Recipe 2?

I thought this thread was a newer and improved version of your 2006 recipe stated in http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

Sorry for the dumb questions lol.

I'm only familiar with the 2006 recipe.

Thanks!

In that linked article are both recipes.
#1 is baked baking soda.
#2 is unbaked baking soda.
#2 is half as potent as #1 due to being less soluble

Isaac Alves · May 9, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Yes, you can dissolve it more concentrated then dilute. Note it can get hot. More concentrated yields a higher temperature.

The dry bulk density will vary brand to brand, but 283 grams of sodium hydroxide is about 253 mL of some brands, which is 1.07 cups.

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
In that linked article are both recipes.
#1 is baked baking soda.
#2 is unbaked baking soda.
#2 is half as potent as #1 due to being less soluble

Recipe #1

Recipe #1, Part 1: The Calcium Part

Recipe #1, Part 2: The Alkalinity Part

Recipe #1, Part 3: The Magnesium Portion

Recipe #1, Part 3A

Recipe #1, Part 3B

Recipe #2

Recipe #2, Part 1: The Calcium Part

Recipe #2, Part 2: The Alkalinity Part

Recipe #2, Part 3: The Magnesium Portion

Recipe #2, Part 3A

Recipe #2, Part 3B

Thank you @Randy Holmes-Farley -- but I've always been slightly confused as well -- mainly my own inability to remember stuff. Which one uses Sodium Hydroxide for the Alk?

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 9, 2023

Isaac Alves said:
Thank you @Randy Holmes-Farley -- but I've always been slightly confused as well -- mainly my own inability to remember stuff. Which one uses Sodium Hydroxide for the Alk?

None in that linked paper use sodium hydroxide.

This thread gives one of the subsequently developed sodium hydroxide recipes. Look at post one of this thread. It is a direct swap out of the alk part of Recipe #1 in the linked paper. This recipe does not have its own name or number. Maybe it needs one. lol

Isaac Alves · May 9, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
None in that linked paper use sodium hydroxide.

This thread gives one of the subsequently developed sodium hydroxide recipes. Look at post one of this thread. It is a direct swap out of the alk part of Recipe #1 in the linked paper. This recipe does not have its own name or number. Maybe it needs one. lol

So in the calculator, do we choose Recipe #1 if we are using Sodium Hydroxide for alk?

Treefer32 · May 9, 2023

The alk part of this is using Lye correct? I thought I saw that in a previous post? That seems incredibly dangerous to recommend. CHemical rated gloves and or arm protectors, face protection. Like, this is not to be taken lightly it will cause chemical burns, likely requiring medical treatment.

Lye can be used to recharge Deionization media as well, and I've avoided it for the danger of it. I'm not the most dextrous person and could see spilling it all over myself in a very dangerous way.