Last night I read a huge thread about “homebrew
pH buffer” on one of the bigger web forums. It really was an excellent thread. An excellent thread that made me feel like a complete moron. I'm terrible with chemistry, I don't understand this stuff as well as I should, but here's the deal: I have low
pH and I would really like to fix it!
So here are the stupid idiot questions.
OK, so my first question has to do this buffer. If it's this easy, then I am never buying it again. I really love supporting SeaChem, but not if I don't have to. I have a few questions specifically related to that.
(1.) The recipe calls for “Washing soda.” Nope, can't get it here. Tried 3 hardware stores and 4 grocery stores. Every customer service person I recruited for assistance... and my WIFE... looked at me like I was from another planet. So, I'm now thinking about another source for sodium bicarbonate. Someone mentioned earlier that pool and spa chemicals were sodium carbonate, and they sure were correct. 97% sodium carbonate and 3% of who knows what. Has anyone else used pool and spa chemicals in their VERY EXPENSIVE INVESTMENT OF A REEF TANK before? The thought kinda freaks me out, as illustrated by my obnoxious use of all caps. Is this doable?
(2.) If sodium carbonate raises
pH, and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) lowers
pH, why are we using both? or when we say “buffer”
pH, are we not really talking about “raising” it? The
pH of my water is notoriously low. I don’t know why. With my
hot tub, I ALWAYS have to add sodium carbonate when I add new water. With my fish tanks, my other parameters are practically perfect, but the
pH is low. I am always around 7.9 to 8.1 and I want to get it up to around 8.3. If all I am doing is trying to RAISE my
pH, can I use sodium carbonate by itself? AND will the stuff I have for my spa work without nuking my livestock?
(3.) I am adding a calcium reactor. Will all of this discussion be a moot point?
Thanks for reading - and hopefully educating me.
