Organic carbon dosing and NPS

hart24601 · Jul 16, 2015

Hey Randy, I remember a while back you tried keeping some NPS with carbon dosing and adding silica (I think). I couldn't find the results of that, if I remember correctly you did have a ball sponge that did well. Did you give the sponges any light at all?

saltyphish · Jul 17, 2015

bump @Randy Holmes-Farley

hart24601 · Jul 17, 2015

Oooo, 2 part question for the good doctor R. I think you also dose silica and use gfo? Does the gfo remove phosphate 1st and how much? Will the silica it removes get displaced by phosphate and you think there is any point to dose silica while running gfo?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 17, 2015

The ball sponge has grown well under an overhang. The orange sponge lasted years, and there is likely still some, but it is decreasing in size rather than increase.

The monkey tunicate eventually died, but my sump where it was does have a lot of white sponges that grew naturally there.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 17, 2015

hart24601 said:
Oooo, 2 part question for the good doctor R. I think you also dose silica and use gfo? Does the gfo remove phosphate 1st and how much? Will the silica it removes get displaced by phosphate and you think there is any point to dose silica while running gfo?

IMO, dosing silicate when using GFO (as I do both) may be even more important than when not using GFO. Sometimes I dose the silicate when I'm changing the GFO so it doesn't get removed as rapidly. I expect the GFO does export some and the silicate does take up some phosphate binding sites, but I do not know how much that impact is.

hart24601 · Jul 17, 2015

Thank you sir! I am going to try some ball sponges for my overhangs.

hart24601 · Jul 17, 2015

Divers den has aquacultured yellow and maroon sponges. Can't hurt to get one that was already grown in captivity. One more question. I do awc, 1-2% a day. Could I add silica to the saltwater container so it adds a little everyday? And if so how much would you recommend?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 18, 2015

I got mine from Divers Den, although I don't recall if they were aquacultured.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 18, 2015

hart24601 said:
Divers den has aquacultured yellow and maroon sponges. Can't hurt to get one that was already grown in captivity. One more question. I do awc, 1-2% a day. Could I add silica to the saltwater container so it adds a little everyday? And if so how much would you recommend?

Yes, you can add it to new salt water. I'd add the equivalent of 1-2 ppm per week. If diatoms become problematic, drop back in dose.

hart24601 · Jul 18, 2015

Myself and my sponges thank you!

hart24601 · Jul 24, 2015

Randy, the ball sponge on the overhang sounds like it gets some indirect light. Did any of the other sponges get light aside from the regularly seen sump sponges (white).

Also I have considered running some biopellets along with the vinegar (at reduced amounts). Not for additional nutrient control, but perhaps provide some sugars and carbohydrates from the pellets that other types of bacteria or other microorganisms will consume to increase the potential food sources for the sponges. Thoughts?