Dosing silicate

Gogo007

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Hi

I started new 750 liter tank from 8 months ago and unfortunately i got wide spread of dino after a long fight it seems that only silica dosing is the one that beat it .. i was using silica from seachem i think but this costy for me to get it and after i read about dosing silicate and its benefits to the tank i decided to dosing it regularly to maintain a range of about 0.5ppm or maybe up to 1ppm

So i decided to DIY MY DOSING solution and i need help to confirm my calculations

I bought sodium meta silicate nona hydrate which has a molecular weight of 284.2
Silica had m.w of 28.08
So for my 750 liter tank to increase 1 mg/L i need
1 mg/L * 284.2/28.08 * 1/1000 * 750 = 7.5 grams

So i need to add 7.5 grams of sodium meta silicate nonahydrate to increase my 750 liter tank to 1ppm

So to prepare a solution of 1 liters that each 5ml of it contains 7.5 grams

7.5/5 * 1500 grams

That's about 1.5 kilo to do that solution ... Is that correct ?
 

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i have never heard about silica dosing but if that is a thing, you can not solve that much in such small amount of water. According to google you can solve 22.2 g/100 ml water in 25 °C, even less in 20 °C that is more likely to be the temperature of your solution...
 
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Gogo007

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i have never heard about silica dosing but if that is a thing, you can not solve that much in such small amount of water. According to google you can solve 22.2 g/100 ml water in 25 °C, even less in 20 °C that is more likely to be the temperature of your solution...
I saw a lot of people dosing it even for dino battle .. dr randy had a big post about dosing it to increase the sponage and filter feeders and pods population .. i saw the benefits my self when i dosed it before with increase in ph and alot of good things and i was hesitated in the beginning because the bad images of silicate alage in my head but this is something different .. i do believe also its sold as ready product by zeovit under the name of sponge power or something like that
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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I have advised folks to dose silicate for 20 years, and think it is useful for organisms such as sponges. It can also help diatoms to outcompete other organisms such as green algae ( I demonstrate that in the article below) and it may work similarly for dinos (but I do not make that claim myself since I've never had dinos).

I give DIY dosing recommendations here:

 

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Hi

I started new 750 liter tank from 8 months ago and unfortunately i got wide spread of dino after a long fight it seems that only silica dosing is the one that beat it .. i was using silica from seachem i think but this costy for me to get it and after i read about dosing silicate and its benefits to the tank i decided to dosing it regularly to maintain a range of about 0.5ppm or maybe up to 1ppm

So i decided to DIY MY DOSING solution and i need help to confirm my calculations

I bought sodium meta silicate nona hydrate which has a molecular weight of 284.2
Silica had m.w of 28.08
So for my 750 liter tank to increase 1 mg/L i need
1 mg/L * 284.2/28.08 * 1/1000 * 750 = 7.5 grams

So i need to add 7.5 grams of sodium meta silicate nonahydrate to increase my 750 liter tank to 1ppm

So to prepare a solution of 1 liters that each 5ml of it contains 7.5 grams

7.5/5 * 1500 grams

That's about 1.5 kilo to do that solution ... Is that correct ?

IMO, I'd use an already made solution that is readily available, but the material you have will work.

1 ppm silica (not 1 ppm Si) is already quite high. 1 ppm Si is higher still. I recommend dosing to 200 ug/L silica (SiO2).

That said, you can determine what dose you need by trial and error.


If you want to boost SI to 1 ppm SI, then you need 750 mg in your system.

The material you have is 10% Si by weight, so yes, you need about 7.5 grams of that material.

Trying to get 7.5 grams of the solid to dissolve in 5 mL of water seems a crazy high concentration and may not work out.


I'd experiment a few times to see what you are able to attain (regardless of published solubility).

First, I'd try dissolving the 7.5 grams in 25 mL of water. if that works for you, I'd use a stock like that.

Dosing the highest concentration possible is NOT desirable. You are more likely to cause precipitation problems. It may be better to dissolve it in even more water, even if it does all dissolve in 25 mL.
 
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Gogo007

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IMO, I'd use an already made solution that is readily available, but the material you have will work.

1 ppm silica (not 1 ppm Si) is already quite high. 1 ppm Si is higher still. I recommend dosing to 200 ug/L silica (SiO2).

That said, you can determine what dose you need by trial and error.


If you want to boost SI to 1 ppm SI, then you need 750 mg in your system.

The material you have is 10% Si by weight, so yes, you need about 7.5 grams of that material.

Trying to get 7.5 grams of the solid to dissolve in 5 mL of water seems a crazy high concentration and may not work out.


I'd experiment a few times to see what you are able to attain (regardless of published solubility).

First, I'd try dissolving the 7.5 grams in 25 mL of water. if that works for you, I'd use a stock like that.

Dosing the highest concentration possible is NOT desirable. You are more likely to cause precipitation problems. It may be better to dissolve it in even more water, even if it does all dissolve in 25 mL.
So now i do understand thank you i will recalculate again for SiO2 which is 60.08 U

SO FOR 200ug/l i will do

0.02 * 284.2/60.08 * 1/1000 * 750 = 0.0709 grams

To prepare my solution to be dosed at 5ml dosage

0.071/5 * 1000 = 14.1 grams
That means i will make solution of 1liter that contains 14.1 grams each 5 ml of that solution will increase my 750l tank with 200ug/l

Please DR Randy you prefer daily dosage or weekly dosage of that 200ug/l ?
 
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Gogo007

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IMO, I'd use an already made solution that is readily available, but the material you have will work.

1 ppm silica (not 1 ppm Si) is already quite high. 1 ppm Si is higher still. I recommend dosing to 200 ug/L silica (SiO2).

That said, you can determine what dose you need by trial and error.


If you want to boost SI to 1 ppm SI, then you need 750 mg in your system.

The material you have is 10% Si by weight, so yes, you need about 7.5 grams of that material.

Trying to get 7.5 grams of the solid to dissolve in 5 mL of water seems a crazy high concentration and may not work out.


I'd experiment a few times to see what you are able to attain (regardless of published solubility).

First, I'd try dissolving the 7.5 grams in 25 mL of water. if that works for you, I'd use a stock like that.

Dosing the highest concentration possible is NOT desirable. You are more likely to cause precipitation problems. It may be better to dissolve it in even more water, even if it does all dissolve in 25 mL.
So now i do understand thank you i will recalculate again for SiO2 which is 60.08 U

SO FOR 200ug/l i will do

0.02 * 284.2/60.08 * 1/1000 * 750 = 0.0709 grams

To prepare my solution to be dosed at 5ml dosage

0.071/5 * 1000 = 14.1 grams
That means i will make solution of 1liter that contains 14.1 grams each 5 ml of that solution will increase my 750l tank with 200ug/l

Please DR Randy you prefer daily dosage or weekly dosage of that 200ug/l ?
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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So now i do understand thank you i will recalculate again for SiO2 which is 60.08 U

SO FOR 200ug/l i will do

0.02 * 284.2/60.08 * 1/1000 * 750 = 0.0709 grams

To prepare my solution to be dosed at 5ml dosage

0.071/5 * 1000 = 14.1 grams
That means i will make solution of 1liter that contains 14.1 grams each 5 ml of that solution will increase my 750l tank with 200ug/l

Please DR Randy you prefer daily dosage or weekly dosage of that 200ug/l ?

I think the leading 0.02 should be 0.2? 200 ug/L = 0.2 mg/L

0.2 mg/L * 284.2/60.08 * 1/1000 mg/ug * 750 L = 0.709 grams
 
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Gogo007

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I think the leading 0.02 should be 0.2? 200 ug/L = 0.2 mg/L

0.2 mg/L * 284.2/60.08 * 1/1000 mg/ug * 750 L = 0.709 grams
Yes Dr randy my mistake .. thank you very much for your kindly help Dr .. and please please one more question you said i should dose based in testing the consumption rate .. should i start with 200ug daily or weekly ? Thank you again
 

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Yes Dr randy my mistake .. thank you very much for your kindly help Dr .. and please please one more question you said i should dose based in testing the consumption rate .. should i start with 200ug daily or weekly ? Thank you again

Do you have a silicate test? If so, I’d dose once and watch it for a few days.
 
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Gogo007

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Ohhh i realy impressed with this results of dosing silicate next day tank looks more clear a lot of this nasty look algae disappears and corals opens more i also do see too many very small tiny white creatures moving in the glass .. i feels also a small change in ph but about 0.1 which feels that this product is high in ph i wonder if it will have affect in the alkalinity or not but i will keep monitor
 

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Ohhh i realy impressed with this results of dosing silicate next day tank looks more clear a lot of this nasty look algae disappears and corals opens more i also do see too many very small tiny white creatures moving in the glass .. i feels also a small change in ph but about 0.1 which feels that this product is high in ph i wonder if it will have affect in the alkalinity or not but i will keep monitor

Dosing silicate adds a small amount of alk, but not much.

Adding 200 ug/L of SiO2 equivalent adds 3.3 micromolar alkalinity, or 0.009 dKH.
 
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Gogo007

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Dosing silicate adds a small amount of alk, but not much.

Adding 200 ug/L of SiO2 equivalent adds 3.3 micromolar alkalinity, or 0.009 dKH.
Thank you doctor may i know how it has been calculated and what part which cuz the alkalinity i do read in you post in reef.com that there will magnesium hydroxide will cuz the white color of the solution and cloud the water in the beginning is that also the cause of the alkalinity ?
 

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Thank you doctor may i know how it has been calculated and what part which cuz the alkalinity i do read in you post in reef.com that there will magnesium hydroxide will cuz the white color of the solution and cloud the water in the beginning is that also the cause of the alkalinity ?

The cloudiness is a result of the high pH, but does not impact the alk once it redissolves.

SiO2 has a molecular weight of 60 g/mole (=mg/mmole = micrograms/micromole).

200 ug/L SiO2 equivalents (as silicate) is 200 ug/L/60 (ug/umole) = 3.33 micromoles/L

Each silicate added that converts to SiO2 adds 1 unit of alkalinity:

SI(OH)3O- ---> SiO2 + H2O + OH-

3.33 micromolar alk = 0.003 millimolar alk (meq/L)

0.003 meq/L alk * 2.8 dKH/meq/L = 0.009 dKH
 
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Gogo007

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The cloudiness is a result of the high pH, but does not impact the alk once it redissolves.

SiO2 has a molecular weight of 60 g/mole (=mg/mmole = micrograms/micromole).

200 ug/L SiO2 equivalents (as silicate) is 200 ug/L/60 (ug/umole) = 3.33 micromoles/L

Each silicate added that converts to SiO2 adds 1 unit of alkalinity:

SI(OH)3O- ---> SiO2 + H2O + OH-

3.33 micromolar alk = 0.003 millimolar alk (meq/L)

0.003 meq/L alk * 2.8 dKH/meq/L = 0.009 dKH
Please Dr Randy i am using sodium carbonate as my alk dosing could i mix the sodium meta silicate with it to be dosed automatic daily ? Is sodium metasilicate will react with sodium carbonate in any matter ? Or it safe to dosd them together as one solution ?
 

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Please Dr Randy i am using sodium carbonate as my alk dosing could i mix the sodium meta silicate with it to be dosed automatic daily ? Is sodium metasilicate will react with sodium carbonate in any matter ? Or it safe to dosd them together as one solution ?

Yes, you can mix them unless the sodium carbonate is close to solubility saturation.
 
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Gogo007

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Yes, you can mix them unless the sodium carbonate is close to solubility saturation.
Great i think not so close i normally dissolve 250 gram of sodium carbonate to 2 liter of water at our normal temp which is about 27c and i checked the solubility its 34 gram per 100 ml that means full saturation is about 680 gram in 2 liter i think i am little far from saturation
 

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