am I shooting myself in the foot.

[Taxus812]

I have been impatiently waiting through a diatom bloom with this two month old tank. I have posted about it and I am confident it will go away someday . I decided to test for silicates, to see if the levels are reducing (more out of curiosity). Not to bad in the tank but not zero. I did find that my well water has a VERY high concentration of silicates however. About ten min ago it just dawned on me. I rinse my carbon, filter pads, skimmer cup, etc. in tap water. Could I be contaminating with silicates in sufficient amounts to be contributing to diatom blooms ?

1. Top Right is RODI from my RODI filter. I read as 0 ppm.
2. Middle right is RO taken before the DI from my RODI filter. (its 0 ppm and the same as the RO test).
3. Middle left and bottom right is my tank water. I did two tests at different times to see if they came out the same (and they did). This way I know I was doing them right. I read just under 1ppm for both tests.
4. Bottom Left is my tap water (WOW). I read 25+ppm

​

 

[scott11106]

as much as it could add a bit to your tank i do not think that is your problem. I would rinse it with RO to be sure and remove a point of contamination in the future but the carbon should absorb it. are you letting it dry before using or just rinsing and going? are you using a media reactor or bag?

 

[Taxus812]

as much as it could add a bit to your tank i do not think that is your problem. I would rinse it with RO to be sure and remove a point of contamination in the future but the carbon should absorb it. are you letting it dry before using or just rinsing and going? are you using a media reactor or bag?

Thanks that is good to know.
I’m rinsing and adding it to a media rack(it’s in a bag) in my AIO sump.

 

[H2OHenry]

Following. In the same spot as my almost 2 month old 20g AIO. Some days the diatoms start to get better, some days they get worse. I just tried rinsing my filter sock with RO water a couple days ago to see if that would help.

 

[dylana407]

How much flow is the sandbed getting?

 

[Taxus812]

How much flow is the sandbed getting?

Some but not so much it’s moving around.

 

[dylana407]

Some but not so much it’s moving around.

Give it more flow. It will help to clear up some.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Edit, I have no idea how I just put post in wrong thread, sorry

 

[Taxus812]

I feel honored you are reading my threads at least