Seachem Acid&Alkaline Buffer Formulas

[Ahughes1805]

Hello, I get RO/DI water from local pet store and using the Seachem products to buffer water for the first time. Products are Seachem Acid Buffer and Seachem Alkaline Buffer. I could only find info on YouTube for Seachem Malaysia discussing the dosages to reach KH and PH with the videos one example. Does anyone have formulas for 5/10/20gal situations? I know it’s a broad question. I’m just looking example situations so I can understand the math behind it and be able to see the formulas visually. I’m a visual learner to see it and then try it on paper to understand.
 

thanks

[AnimalNerd98]

What is your target pH/KH/GH? Also, may I ask as to why you are wanting to use remineralized RODI water instead of dechlorinated tap water?

The Alkaline Buffer and Acid Buffer work basically in opposites. The Alkaline buffer contains mostly sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and increases the KH by adding carbonate and bicarbonate ions to the water. The Acidic Buffer contains mostly sodium bisulfate which converts bicarbonate/carbonate ions into CO2, lowering the KH. What are your plans for increasing GH (magnesium and calcium ions).

I hope someone else can help with the math and dosing part. 

[Guppysnail]

I don’t have first hand “making water experience”. However I have heard most folks use seachem equilibrium to remineralize not the buffers. @Mmiller2001 is who I would go to with this question.

[Ahughes1805]

On 9/26/2022 at 2:46 AM, AnimalNerd98 said:

What is your target pH/KH/GH? Also, may I ask as to why you are wanting to use remineralized RODI water instead of dechlorinated tap water?

The Alkaline Buffer and Acid Buffer work basically in opposites. The Alkaline buffer contains mostly sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and increases the KH by adding carbonate and bicarbonate ions to the water. The Acidic Buffer contains mostly sodium bisulfate which converts bicarbonate/carbonate ions into CO2, lowering the KH. What are your plans for increasing GH (magnesium and calcium ions).

I hope someone else can help with the math and dosing part. 

I have extremely high iron in my tap water. I have to use specific salt in my water softener. I’ve also had bad experiences with my gal water when dechlorinated.

I utilize brightwell remineralizer.

 

thank you for the better explanation. Could I have just purchased standard baking soda for alkalinity?

[Mmiller2001]

Instructions here 

https://www.seachem.com/acid-buffer.php

 

[AnimalNerd98]

On 9/26/2022 at 6:20 AM, Ahughes1805 said:

I have extremely high iron in my tap water. I have to use specific salt in my water softener. I’ve also had bad experiences with my gal water when dechlorinated.

I utilize brightwell remineralizer.

 

thank you for the better explanation. Could I have just purchased standard baking soda for alkalinity?

Technically, yes. They may have added some other stuff in there, but the main ingredient is just something you can get at the supermarket. However, @Cory in the past has said that baking soda works in a pinch, but may be difficult to dose straight from the powder form because you need the smallest pinch to affect KH. If you are trying to always have consistent KH levels, it may be difficult to distinguish between a pinch and a half-pinch per gallon every time you change water. I believe the alkaline buffer should be a more dilute solution and makes it easier to dose. Good luck!

[Cory]

If you want to make your own. I'd recommend making african cichlid salt. You can find the process online, where you take a 5 gallon bucket and find the right amount of baking soda and other minerals  like epsom salt to put in, usually a little bit of marine salt as well for trace minerals. Then you can extrapolate that out for how much water you change, if you changed 20 gallons at a water change you'd do 4x of what you were able to get right in the bucket. It could take you an hour or so remaking the 5 gallon bucket to find what the right ratios will be for your water after r/o and what type of fish you're wanting to keep.

[KentFishFanUK]

On 9/25/2022 at 10:52 PM, Ahughes1805 said:

Hello, I get RO/DI water from local pet store and using the Seachem products to buffer water for the first time. Products are Seachem Acid Buffer and Seachem Alkaline Buffer. I could only find info on YouTube for Seachem Malaysia discussing the dosages to reach KH and PH with the videos one example. Does anyone have formulas for 5/10/20gal situations? I know it’s a broad question. I’m just looking example situations so I can understand the math behind it and be able to see the formulas visually. I’m a visual learner to see it and then try it on paper to understand.
 

thanks

So on the seachem website if you go to the instructions for the Alkaline buffer there is a calculator you can use to figure out how much to use to target a specific KH. You work out how much alkaline buffer first.

Then there is also a chart with the ratio of acid buffer/alkaline buffer to use to target a specific pH - for example for a neutral pH you would use half as much acid buffer. 

[Ahughes1805]

On 10/1/2022 at 2:06 PM, KentFishFanUK said:

So on the seachem website if you go to the instructions for the Alkaline buffer there is a calculator you can use to figure out how much to use to target a specific KH. You work out how much alkaline buffer first.

Then there is also a chart with the ratio of acid buffer/alkaline buffer to use to target a specific pH - for example for a neutral pH you would use half as much acid buffer. 

I was reading that and was based on a 20 gal situation. I’m using 5 gal buckets to make the water. After trial and error using measuring set spoons that are like “drops” “smidgen”, etc I’ve been able to balance it all out. 
 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B091SW8BD5/ref=sspa_mw_detail_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9kZXRhaWwp13NParams
 

Set has been helpful if anyone else needs small teaspoon sets.