Dosing silicates

[mike007]

I have followed Randy's advice on dosing silicates ( liquid glass) and I have to tell everyone that I have noticed a big difference In my acros. They have colored up and great polyp extension. I have been in the hobby many years and never knew this . I am so glad we have Randy to enlighten us on these issues. Hopefully he will post more info on this.

 

[jedimasterben]

Very interesting change. Not sure how much the silicate has to do with it directly, but it could be a byproduct of it

I've been dosing silica at 1mL per week for a little while now, though I did manage to skip a few weeks because I accidentally put the bottle away and forgot lol. I can never get a silicate reading on a Salifert test kit, though. Even when I dosed 3mL once to try and get a reading, I still get nothing.

 

[rako1]

I dont understand why do they say it is better to use a silicabuster di cartridges on your ro unit

 

[jedimasterben]

People are too afraid of silicates

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Some water supplies have a great deal of silicate in it (some water supplies intentionally add it, I believe, to raise pH and reduce corrosion and heavy metal release into pipes). And that may be enough silicate to cause a diatom problem in some aquaria.

But some diatoms are not going to hurt most tanks. When I dose silicate, it is adding back silicate since it is rapidly depleted in my tank, and I want sponges and mollusks to get enough. It is also very easy to stop if you do not like the effect and the silicate will be gone in a few days.

I've never tracked what impact it might have on other organisms, but if there is any, I expect it is indirect, either buy providing diatom food for them, or reducing nutrients (N and P) through diatom growth (something Nualgi does, but they also add a lot of other stuff which I do not want to add).

THe most immediately apparent change is the green algae on the glass get replaced for a few days by a more brownish algae (diatoms) that, luckily, is not as noticeable.

 

[Ontheway]

I currently use rodi water with 0 tds, but after reading Randy's article and combining this with info on positive results of adding natural sea water into aquarium, I want give a try to silicate dosing. If I am not wrong, silicate is utilized also by phytoplanktons which are not abundant, but seems necessary, in our tanks (just realized label of Marine Snow from J. Sprung indicate it contains some silicates).

Now, I am not aware of other sources but I was able to find two; sodium metasilicate Pr. Gr. (anhydrous) and (pentahydrate). Which one I should prefer and how much I should use as starting dose for 350L (90g) water volume? Any help appreciated.

 

[jedimasterben]

I currently use rodi water with 0 tds, but after reading Randy's article and combining this with info on positive results of adding natural sea water into aquarium, I want give a try to silicate dosing. If I am not wrong, silicate is utilized also by phytoplanktons which are not abundant, but seems necessary, in our tanks (just realized label of Marine Snow from J. Sprung indicate it contains some silicates).

Now, I am not aware of other sources but I was able to find two; sodium metasilicate Pr. Gr. (anhydrous) and (pentahydrate). Which one I should prefer and how much I should use as starting dose for 350L (90g) water volume? Any help appreciated.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D7R85O/ref=pe_385040_30332190_TE_3p_M3T1_ST1_dp_1

That is the stuff that I purchased. Works as expected and is cheap. Saw an explosion of sponges and tiny feather stars immediately after I started dosing.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I currently use rodi water with 0 tds, but after reading Randy's article and combining this with info on positive results of adding natural sea water into aquarium, I want give a try to silicate dosing. If I am not wrong, silicate is utilized also by phytoplanktons which are not abundant, but seems necessary, in our tanks (just realized label of Marine Snow from J. Sprung indicate it contains some silicates).

Now, I am not aware of other sources but I was able to find two; sodium metasilicate Pr. Gr. (anhydrous) and (pentahydrate). Which one I should prefer and how much I should use as starting dose for 350L (90g) water volume? Any help appreciated.

I'd look for water glass as it is cheap and already made into a solution, but either of those are fine.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D7R85O/ref=pe_385040_30332190_TE_3p_M3T1_ST1_dp_1

That is the stuff that I purchased. Works as expected and is cheap. Saw an explosion of sponges and tiny feather stars immediately after I started dosing.

Glad it seems helpful!

 

[Ontheway]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D7R85O/ref=pe_385040_30332190_TE_3p_M3T1_ST1_dp_1

That is the stuff that I purchased. Works as expected and is cheap. Saw an explosion of sponges and tiny feather stars immediately after I started dosing.

Thanks, here is another question. Can we expect a change in pH ? If it increases phytoplanktons group, there may be some indirect effect on pH due to increased CO2 consumption?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

In terms of phytoplankton, it boost diatoms only. I wouldn't necessarily expect a noticeable pH effect from that, but the silicate addition does boost pH (and alkalinity) a small amount.

 

[Rakie]

In terms of phytoplankton, it boost diatoms only. I wouldn't necessarily expect a noticeable pH effect from that, but the silicate addition does boost pH (and alkalinity) a small amount.

Ancient post... What specific type of silicates do you suggest? Are there grades of varying quality, etc etc.

 

[jedimasterben]

Ancient post... What specific type of silicates do you suggest? Are there grades of varying quality, etc etc.

look a few posts up.

 

[Rakie]

look a few posts up.

I saw, but I need a little more information than that.

Will Potassium Silicate work? Will only MSiO2, or does MSiO3 also work? Does it need to be liquid? What about Brightwell SpongeExcel it's pure silicates? What % of Silicates does the solution need?

I don't want to end up with the wrong thing, and if possible, I'd like to just go out and buy some immediately in person. So I feel like I need a little more info

 

[jedimasterben]

I saw, but I need a little more information than that.

Will Potassium Silicate work? Will only MSiO2, or does MSiO3 also work? Does it need to be liquid? What about Brightwell SpongeExcel it's pure silicates? What % of Silicates does the solution need?

I don't want to end up with the wrong thing, and if possible, I'd like to just go out and buy some immediately in person. So I feel like I need a little more info

Potassium silicate would probably work, and it doesn't necessarily need to be liquid, but you are vastly overcomplicating the subject The Brightwell product is extremely expensive for what it is (diluted sodium silicate solution) considering you can buy technical grade water glass for about $10/500mL (instead of $10 for 125mL of dilute solution). Then again, you don't need to dose much solution, and when dosed undiluted, it immediately precipitates magnesium in the aquarium, though that is temporary and it will redissolve into the tank in a few minutes. To mitigate this I would mix 1mL of sodium silicate solution into about 200mL of water (either tap or RO, whichever was on hand) and would dose that, and no significant precipitate would form.

 

[Rakie]

Potassium silicate would probably work, and it doesn't necessarily need to be liquid, but you are vastly overcomplicating the subject The Brightwell product is extremely expensive for what it is (diluted sodium silicate solution) considering you can buy technical grade water glass for about $10/500mL (instead of $10 for 125mL of dilute solution). Then again, you don't need to dose much solution, and when dosed undiluted, it immediately precipitates magnesium in the aquarium, though that is temporary and it will redissolve into the tank in a few minutes. To mitigate this I would mix 1mL of sodium silicate solution into about 200mL of water (either tap or RO, whichever was on hand) and would dose that, and no significant precipitate would form.

Thank you, that's exactly what I needed to hear!

Yeah... I tend to overthink things. Anytime I don't it bites me in the rear. Probably just bad luck!

 

[jedimasterben]

Thank you, that's exactly what I needed to hear!

Yeah... I tend to overthink things. Anytime I don't it bites me in the rear. Probably just bad luck!

Don't sweat it, I used to overcomplicate my reef, as well. I was always changing things and dosing things, trying this and trying that, and ended up doing significantly more harm than good. Then I took on a more hands-off approach and my tank has rewarded me for it

 

[Rakie]

Don't sweat it, I used to overcomplicate my reef, as well. I was always changing things and dosing things, trying this and trying that, and ended up doing significantly more harm than good. Then I took on a more hands-off approach and my tank has rewarded me for it

That's pretty much what I do -- Except I ended up with some bubble algae, used some vibrant and ended up with dinos. I had and beat dinos before, but they are responding differently than last time. Because of this, I'm actually trying to start a diatom bloom to outcompete the dinos. It's worked for some, so I'll try it. I have waaaay too many very high end corals to lose.

 

[jedimasterben]

That's pretty much what I do -- Except I ended up with some bubble algae, used some vibrant and ended up with dinos. I had and beat dinos before, but they are responding differently than last time. Because of this, I'm actually trying to start a diatom bloom to outcompete the dinos. It's worked for some, so I'll try it. I have waaaay too many very high end corals to lose.

As someone with Ostreopsis still in my tank after eight-ish years of trying to beat it (and killing tons of corals and fish in the mean time), taking a basic approach is your best bet. There aren't any quick fixes or surefire ways, but letting something bloom to try and outcompete them does seem to have a small effect. They will continue to bloom until you take down your tank, but hopefully can be more manageable for you. I tend to ignore the blooms now, but the only thing they attack are my gorgonians, and they can usually stand to lose a few small branches now and then

 

[Rakie]

I had Ostreopsis three times and killed it very quickly with Metronidazole and some Dr Tims. I got rid of them completely with no sign of them until I tried another algaecide (which Vibrant most assuredly is). Dinos are always in water, but I never had a bloom until coincidentally when I use an algaecide. Less than 5-6 days after dosing any algaecide (Fluconazole, Vibrant, etc etc) dinos take over. Until then, I've gone years with not a single issue. This time I don't have a microscope and am unsure if what I have is Ostreopsis though, so I'm not sure the same treatment is having the same effect on them.

It's a bummer. But I can tell you I had no issues with Ostreopsis after using Metronidazole. If you feel like giving it a shot, I can tell you that definitely worked for me!

I've never had any good natural algaes other than film algae.