Silicate dosing in a doser

[Miami Reef]

Thanks for your insight. I have to disagree though. I noticed once, I skipped 2 days of dosing and my reading went from 2.00+ to 0.13. I thought I may have messed up my Hanna test, so I tested again and it was exactly the same 0.13. I have a large

To me dropping Silica to 0 is a concern almost as bad as NO3 or PO4 to 0 because this could hurt my fight with dinos.

How soon after dosing did you test? Is it possible your collection vial was contaminated with silica? Perhaps you used the same syringe to dose and test?

If you are having such a massive consumption of silica, they must be an absurd amount of sponges and diatoms. In that case, you probably shouldn’t be having much dino issues.

I think the 2ppm+ initial reading was a test error. I am skeptical a tank can go through 2ppm+ in 2 days. That’s a lot.

 

[Bitcoin Reefer]

How soon after dosing did you test? Is it possible your collection vial was contaminated with silica? Perhaps you used the same syringe to dose and test?

If you are having such a massive consumption of silica, they must be an absurd amount of sponges and diatoms. In that case, you probably shouldn’t be having much dino issues.

I think the 2ppm+ initial reading was a test error. I am skeptical a tank can go through 2ppm+ in 2 days. That’s a lot.

Collection vial not contaminated no. I washed after retest anyways if that was even possible, but no not possible, I don't use test kit to touch silica at all. Only tank water and testing. Don't use syringe, I fill the vial directly from tank.

Interesting thoughts though. I suppose I can check again soon to see if it's accurate, but ya I seem to be using around .9ppm/day , almost a full 1ppm per day. I dose around 6ml of water glass per day for 360gal tank. I still have dinos mixed in with diatoms. I used to have no dinos when I dose silica, but that stopped for some reason. dinos persist even at 2ppm+ Silica. My Hannah checker seems to be pretty accurate from testing once a week I've gotten good vibe for it moving with dosing.

@Randy Holmes-Farley Does 1ppm per day consumption seem out of line to you? I do have a good amount of sponges growing in refugium, under rocks, etc, but I don't have any bought sponges or tunacates or anything that I know of that would consume massive amounts. Here are photos of my tank:

 

[Bitcoin Reefer]

Here is a photo of underside of one of my rocks, I’ve probably got 30-40x more rock than this in the tank in total.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks for your insight. I have to disagree though. I noticed once, I skipped 2 days of dosing and my reading went from 2.00+ to 0.13. I thought I may have messed up my Hanna test, so I tested again and it was exactly the same 0.13. I have a large

To me dropping Silica to 0 is a concern almost as bad as NO3 or PO4 to 0 because this could hurt my fight with dinos.

Why would dropping silicate be a big concern? It did not appear to be any concern in my tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Here’s the consumption in my tank, and I don't think there was any issue dosing once a week:

The concentration of soluble silica as a function of time after dosing. Dosing was done at t=0. The concentration for t=0 (30 uM) is an estimate based on what was added and the estimated total system volume. (30 uM ~ 1.8 ppm SiO2)

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

 

[Bitcoin Reefer]

Why would dropping silicate be a big concern? It did not appear to be any concern in my tank.

I am thinking that if Silica hits 0, it may give dinos a chance to out compete the diatoms we're trying to cultivate.

 

[Bitcoin Reefer]

Here’s the consumption in my tank, and I don't think there was any issue dosing once a week:

The concentration of soluble silica as a function of time after dosing. Dosing was done at t=0. The concentration for t=0 (30 uM) is an estimate based on what was added and the estimated total system volume. (30 uM ~ 1.8 ppm SiO2)

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

So it looks like after dosing, After 4 days you're at 0. So me being at 0.13ppm after 2.00+ after 2 days seems reasonable.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I am thinking that if Silica hits 0, it may give dinos a chance to out compete the diatoms we're trying to cultivate.

That could be true if you waited so long the diatoms died. It's not true on a day to day basis.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So it looks like after dosing, After 4 days you're at 0. So me being at 0.13ppm after 2.00+ after 2 days seems reasonable.

I'm not saying it is unreasonable if you have a lot of diatoms (I could see the yellow growth on the glass instead of green in my case), but I am saying its not a problem to hit zero for a few days. The diatoms just patiently wait.

 

[Bitcoin Reefer]

I'm not saying it is unreasonable if you have a lot of diatoms (I could see the yellow growth on the glass instead of green in my case), but I am saying its not a problem to hit zero for a few days. The diatoms just patiently wait.

Ok good to know. Thanks Randy!

 

[Waldek M.]

Hello. Can SiO2 be used when dosing silicon? How to dilute it and how much to dose per 100 liters to raise Si to 1 ppm.
I'm writing through a translator, so please be understanding.
Waldek

 

[Miami Reef]

Hello. Can SiO2 be used when dosing silicon? How to dilute it and how much to dose per 100 liters to raise Si to 1 ppm.
I'm writing through a translator, so please be understanding.
Waldek

SiO2 is primarily used to dose Silica in reef tanks.

Dose 0.4g to raise 100L to 1ppm Silica.

You can dose this once or twice a week.

 

[Waldek M.]

SiO2 is primarily used to dose Silica in reef tanks.

Dose 0.4g to raise 100L to 1ppm Silica.

You can dose this once or twice a week.

Thank you for the quick reply.
How to dose SiO2 safely, because it probably does not dissolve in water?

 

[Miami Reef]

Thank you for the quick reply.
How to dose SiO2 safely, because it probably does not dissolve in water?

It is very soluble in water. Dose it in a high flow area. You can mix it in a bottle of water and slowly pour it into a powerhead.

Upon addition, magnesium hydroxide will form. This will redissolve after a few minutes as long as there is adequate flow.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hello. Can SiO2 be used when dosing silicon? How to dilute it and how much to dose per 100 liters to raise Si to 1 ppm.
I'm writing through a translator, so please be understanding.
Waldek

What do you mean by SiO2? You should use sodium silicate solution, not silica.

 

[Miami Reef]

What do you mean by SiO2? You should use sodium silicate solution, not silica.

I thought he meant this when he said SiO2

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I thought he meant this when he said SiO2

Yes, I understand, but I just want to be sure he does not literally mean SiO2:

Fumed silica - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Waldek M.]

I literally asked about SiO2 if it could be dosed instead of sodium silicate

 

[Miami Reef]

I literally asked about SiO2 if it could be dosed instead of sodium silicate

You did not say, “instead of sodium silicate.”

I apologize because I didn’t know there was even such a thing as SiO2 as a solid. I’m sorry for misguiding you. I was referring to sodium silicate in my above messages.

Yes, I understand, but I just want to be sure he does not literally mean SiO2:

Fumed silica - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Can SiO2 not be dosed? Is it reactive?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I would not assume that SiO2 particles are useful in this context, as I am not certain how effectively one can dissolve them in seawater.

Sodium silicate solution is cheap and readily available, and is known to work well, so unless the intent is to experiment, I'd avoid silica particles.