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Baking Soda to lower pH
Hi,
Rod Farlee or anything even resembling a chemist I ain't but I did keep notes on lots of his input to this group. Found this and I quote - BTW this is reposted sans permission. begin quote "Baking soda can always neutralize acidity and raise pH to 8.4 or so. Acids react with baking soda to produce carbon dioxide, which is permanently removed from the pond by aeration. But baking soda can't neutralize basicity and lower pH in an analogous way, it can only try to overwhelm it. That only works if the initial alkalinity is low, which isn't the case with your water. Another reason baking soda wasn't effective for you is what chemists call "buffer intensity". This is a measure of how strongly a buffer regulates pH (how much acid or base must be added to produce a given pH change). The buffer intensity of bicarbonate has a minimum near pH 8.5. The reason is that this pH is right between the pH of the two chemical reactions that this buffer system relies on. These two reactions are bicarbonate to carbon dioxide (grows as pH falls below 8, is 50% complete at pH 6.3), and bicarbonate to carbonate (grows as pH rises above 9, is 50% complete at pH 10.25). Between these, at pH 8 to 9, buffer intensity is low. Even though your alkalinity (total amount of bicarbonate) is high, the pH can be shifted up by excess base (carbonate), and will stay high. Muriatic acid will convert that excess carbonate to bicarbonate, and "reset" your pH down to 8.4, where it will then be stable." end quote HTH -_- how no NEWS is good wrote in message ... bicarbonate HCO3- is unlikely to give up H+ ions... it is already in an ionized state. yes, it can combine with calcium or magnesium, but does that lower the pH? WE NEED (Rod Farlee)!!!!!!! Ingrid "RichToyBox" wrote: The nature of baking soda is that it will give up H+ ions making more aci ds, but only if the pH is above the buffer point. When it does this, it leaves behind carbonate ions, which could precipitate as calcium carbonate, (limestone), of calcium magnesium carbonate, (dolomite), if there is enough carbonate and it is not being pushed back to bicarbonate. You didn't say it, but I assume you are checking fish ponds with the same test kit and not getting the same high readings, and that the pH test kit is good. You may be at some saturation point and major water changes could help bring the pH down, though with your additions of acid and the temporary decrease, I doubt it. As for the maximum level, I saw somewhere, I think, a value of 300ppm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. |
#17
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Baking Soda to lower pH
bicarb has a valence of -1 in that ionic form, whereas carbonates have a
valence of -2. To get to the valence -2, it has to give off the H+ ion, thereby acidifying the water, and making the carbonates available for reacting with the calcium and magnesium, both valence +2. -- RichToyBox http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html wrote in message ... bicarbonate HCO3- is unlikely to give up H+ ions... it is already in an ionized state. yes, it can combine with calcium or magnesium, but does that lower the pH? WE NEED (Rod Farlee)!!!!!!! Ingrid "RichToyBox" wrote: The nature of baking soda is that it will give up H+ ions making more acids, but only if the pH is above the buffer point. When it does this, it leaves behind carbonate ions, which could precipitate as calcium carbonate, (limestone), of calcium magnesium carbonate, (dolomite), if there is enough carbonate and it is not being pushed back to bicarbonate. You didn't say it, but I assume you are checking fish ponds with the same test kit and not getting the same high readings, and that the pH test kit is good. You may be at some saturation point and major water changes could help bring the pH down, though with your additions of acid and the temporary decrease, I doubt it. As for the maximum level, I saw somewhere, I think, a value of 300ppm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. |
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