Baserock and silicates
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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There are many reasons to avoid certain rocks.
What sort of rock did you use?
What sort of rock did you use?
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cdbias
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I’m in the process of shopping is why I ask.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Do you have choices to pick from?
Calcium carbonate is generally a less risky bet than other materials, especially if you do not know the composition.
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cdbias
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But I think it’s Marco that I saw the thread about the silicates.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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If you are using calcium carbonate rock, I think concerns about silicate are not justified. If there is some (I measurted some coming off aragonite sand myself), a nd you get some temporary diatoms, that's not a big problem and may be beneficial. With dry dead calcium carbonate, bigger concerns may be phosphate coming off them, and/or dinos later in the tank from using dry dead rock.
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cdbias
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Thank you for the reply.
I’ve never even thought about silicates in a reef before, I saw one thread about it and then I hear other people are dosing silicates. I’ve never seen a silicate test kit either.
What are normal/safe silicate levels?
My end goal is to produce reef sculptures and I didn’t want complaints about the rock I started with.
I’ve never even thought about silicates in a reef before, I saw one thread about it and then I hear other people are dosing silicates. I’ve never seen a silicate test kit either.
What are normal/safe silicate levels?
My end goal is to produce reef sculptures and I didn’t want complaints about the rock I started with.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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This article will probably tell you more than you want to know about silicate in a reef tank:
Silica In Reef Aquariums
Why would I recommend dosing silica? Largely because creatures in our tanks use it, the concentrations in our tanks (at least in mine) are below natural levels, and the sponges, mollusks, and diatoms may not be getting enough to thrive.
reefs.com
