Hey Moliken , here is a pic of the box of washing soda i buy for buffer. I get it at Path Mart in the laundry dept. Its pure Sodium Carbonate.
Just in case you dont want to bake your baking soda:
to drive off the water to turn Sodium Bicarbonate into anhydrous Sodium Carbonate.
playing with that dry power always makes me sneaze.
I like to mix half Baking Soda and half Washing Soda to get a balanced, less harsh buffer and alkalinity additive. Sound good?
Ken, I just sent Paul an e-mail about this and then checked the forum and saw you had already made a post about it, lol. You beat me to it. Perhaps he’ll read my e-mail before he checks the forum.
I usually just bake Baking soda at 350*F for 30 minutes to turn it into sodium carbonate.
That’s cool. we got him covered. I always refer back to the “Library” on reef chemistry for recreational reading. Check out the section on Calcium and Alkalinity , and the Limewater section for how to’s and foibles.
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That should keep everyone busy till next meeting.
and also thanks for the kalk dispensing info kemn. cleared up lots of things.
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Ok, I knew there was a reason I made my own Soduim Carbonate. Found this article by Randy Holmes-Farley(aka Reef Chemistry guru who’s word can be taken as gospel):
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#5
In it he says, “I prefer to use baked baking soda rather than washing soda in this recipe as baking soda from a grocery store is always food grade, while washing soda may not have the same purity requirements. Arm & Hammer brand is a fine choice.†No matter how much experience I have or how many chemistry books I have read, I listen to chemist.
how many chemistry books I have read, I listen to chemist.especially the ones that have a Phd from Harvard :GEEK:
well, since Arm and Hammer sells both baking soda and washing soda, i spose they just bake it too. their washing soda seems to work fine for me. I figure Randy was just making a disclaimer. not being privy to their secret processes. But sodium carbonate can be produced as by product from other chem processes. still pretty pure. so far , so good…
I’ve done it both ways. washing soda and baking baking soda. about the same.
It sees they are both produced by the same methods. Mining deposits in Wyoming for processing, or the Solvay process, which also makes Calcium Chloride for calcium addition to reef tanks.
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and
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so industry probably takes the easy road to make all three.