BRS Soda Ash 1 Gallon mix

Mixing Instructions – BRS Soda Ash Liquid Alkalinity

Fill a 1-gallon container 4/5 full of RO/DI or distilled water and then add 2 1/3 cups ( 381 grams) of BRS Pharma Soda Ash into the container. Secure the cap on the container and shake it for about 10 seconds to help start the dissolving process. Remove the cap and fill the container the rest of the way with RO/DI or distilled water. Give the container a few more shakes and then let it sit until all the salts have fully dissolved before use.

Dosing Instructions

Knowing how much to dose is made simple using the BRS Reef Calculator!

General Alkalinity Adjustments – For large additions, we suggest using BRS Pharma Sodium Bicarbonate

Create a 1-gallon solution by following the Mixing Instructions above and then test your aquariums current alkalinity level and using the BRS Reef Calculator input your current and desired alkalinity levels along with your total system water volume. Choose BRS Soda Ash Liquid Alkalinity (New Pharma Pouch) option from the drop-down menu and select calculate. The result will be how much alkalinity solution you will need to add to raise your aquariums water volume to the desired level. We suggest adding small amounts at a time into a high flow area of the tank, like a power heads output or a sump baffle. It is important to keep changes limited to under 1.4 dKH or less per day to not shock your corals.

Tip: If you are having issues raising your alkalinity, check to ensure your aquarium magnesium level is between 1200-1350ppm and that the solution is added to a high flow area of the tank.

Daily Dosing

Step 1. Start by following the General Adjustments instructions above to adjust your aquariums alkalinity, along with calcium and magnesium to your desired levels for your dosing regime starting point.

Step 2. Wait 5 days and retest your aquariums alkalinity level and compare the results to your starting point levels to find the difference. The difference between the starting point and the final reading is how much alkalinity will need to be replaced over the course of a 5-day span of time. We recommend testing at the same time of day as alkalinity levels can fluctuate throughout the day.

Step 3. Go to the BRS Reef Calculator and input your new desired level and your new current level along with your total system water volume. Select the BRS Soda Ash Liquid Alkalinity (New Pharma Pouch) option and then calculate. That amount will be the total solution needed for a 5-day span of time for your reef tank. To know your daily dose just divide that number by 5 (see example below).

Step 4. Replenish your alkalinity by adding the 5-day total to your aquarium and any other diminished levels back to your desired starting point, then wait a few hours before starting your daily dosing regime.

Step 5. Monitor and adjust daily dose as necessary. If your alkalinity levels are slowly rising, we suggest subtracting 10% per day until it is stable. If your alkalinity levels are dropping slowly we suggest raising your daily dose by 10% per day.

Example for 100-gallon aquarium:

Alkalinity Level Day 1 @ 8pm – 9.0 dKH (desired level)

Alkalinity Level Day 5 @ 8pm – 7.5 dKH (current level)

5-Day Alkalinity Requirement – 107.1 mL (provided by BRS Reef Calculator)

Daily Alkalinity Requirement – 21.42 mL (107.1 mL / 5 days)

Soda Ash Instructions

Want to see how BRS Pharma Soda Ash stacks up against the others?

Alkalinity ICP-MS Results

What is 2-Part Dosing?

As corals grow they consume calcium and alkalinity but to keep the levels steady in a reef tank requires the use of magnesium too, so it is more like 3-part dosing, to be honest. Reefers will use calcium chloride and soda ash (sodium carbonate) to maintain their reef tanks chemistry daily and add a magnesium supplement every couple weeks. Magnesium supplements are usually a blend of magnesium chloride and magnesium sulfate to help keep the sulfate to chloride ratio balanced in the aquarium. When starting a 2 part dosing system it is important to use a good test kit to establish a baseline. We really like using the Red Sea Reef Foundation test kit or Hanna Colorimeters for their accuracy and repeatability which leads to a much more stable reef and overall coral health. Stability is one of the keys to keeping a saltwater tank healthy over a long span of time and most reefers will set up an automated system that doses their aquariums needed additives daily removing repetitive (and forgettable) chore. There are purpose-built dosing systems like the Kamor X4, Neptune DOS, or Bubble Magus T-11 that are super easy to program and keeps everything in a compact package, but there are other options that many reefers prefer like the BRS 1.1mL dosing pumps that can be paired with a digital timer for precise and affordable dosing control.