How do you use siporax ?

Foothill Corals

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Foothill Corals your right, the smaller size in theory should work better because it will provide more surface area per sq ft for bacteria to live in. The push for larger size was only because of detritus build up, easier to clean, etc. I got a 200 gallon, with about 250 gallons total volume if you include sump and refugium. How many liters should I go with?


I would start with 3 or 4 liters and see were that gets you six months from now and adjust the quantity as needed.
 

russell13

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I purchased my siporax from a person on EBay. I decided to put it in a reactor. This allows me to control the flow rate and makes it easier to remove for cleaning.
 

120reefkeeper

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Anyone using Siporax and Cheato at the same time?

I do not . The Siporax is great for nitrate reduction and I use GFO for phosphate control.

If lowering of nutrients is your goal then it’s best to pick a method and not try to blend methods.

I would think if you tried to blend these then the Cheato would probably die.
 

NY_Sea

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Im actually running 15 mm in a bag where the water discharges into the sk8mmer section. The next section is the Refugium and chaeto is growing great. Been running it like this for a year.
Am I supposed to be dosing bacteria for maximum efficiency? I only cured mine and then place them in the sump.
Once established are these good forever? I assume they become a huge part of your biological filtration so it would one, not be good to remove them and shock your tank from the change and 2 they would last forever like live rock.


My future idea is to get rid of socks and use a drip tray filter. Like the old A miracle style sump. First water would pass through filter floss then thru siporax then to the skimmer. Just need a custom sump
 
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Reefer79

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Huh never got that when I bought the 25mm noodles. Is that the same size you have?? Or do you have the small 10mm??
When we ordered ours, it said the bacteria was only supplied for freshwater tanks. We only added it as we removed quite a bit of rock from our display but still wanted the live rock which is obviously benificial, this makes a great substitute being hidden in the sump. The only mistake we made was removing the rock before the siporax had time to become "live" so our perams spiked a bit. Needing more water changes. Wish we added it a few months before removing the rocks
 

Hyde2406

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I know this is a super old thread but if anyone is out there.... I got this...it is nothing like the rings or maybe it is I don't really know...
Has any one used it?
Does it expire like filter Media or is it like marine pure or the sera rings?
The directions say to use 3 pieces per liter which = 166 pieces in my 44gal tank (if my math is correct) I got 210 grams can I just put the whole bag in the sump or is it like gfo and it will strip everything out of my water...
I saw an amazing tank and the guy was using what I thought was this but I'm thinking it was the rings.. Any ideas would be great thanks in advance

Screenshot_20200331-195808_Amazon Shopping.jpg
 

X-37B

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I know this is a super old thread but if anyone is out there.... I got this...it is nothing like the rings or maybe it is I don't really know...
Has any one used it?
Does it expire like filter Media or is it like marine pure or the sera rings?
The directions say to use 3 pieces per liter which = 166 pieces in my 44gal tank (if my math is correct) I got 210 grams can I just put the whole bag in the sump or is it like gfo and it will strip everything out of my water...
I saw an amazing tank and the guy was using what I thought was this but I'm thinking it was the rings.. Any ideas would be great thanks in advance

Screenshot_20200331-195808_Amazon Shopping.jpg
Thats not the noodles.
That being said I run 3 liters of eheim substrate pro in a mesh bag in my sump. They are round and similar to these.
My nitrates have run less than 2 ever since I set up the tank 9 months ago.
 

Lasse

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As I said before in this thread - If you run a system with no WC - take it careful with Siporax. It seems like it is leaking silicon under oxygen-free conditions (anaerobic conditions) However - using it in an aerobic filter seems to work well. If it is denitrification you want to achieve - it is not the best choice IMO - because this demand anaerobic conditions. I start my latest aquarium in the summer 2016 - using siporax as a mechanical layer in my deep sand bed with reversed flow. In spring 2017 I change to the TRITON method with no WC. During the period until late may 2017 the Si concentration was around 1 ppm (setpoint and wanted value 0.1 ppm) End of may to the middle of january 2018 (no WC) - the concentration rises to 20 ppm. In this situation I took away the siporax and the concentrations went back to around 0.2 ppm. I have a friend using siporax in aerobic environment - he have not seen high concentrations of Si in the Triton tests.

200320 ghl 006.PNG

Sincerely Lasse
 
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BZOFIQ

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Lasse, noted.

That said, I dont think you can go anaerobic by placing a mesh bag with the stuff in sump.
 

Lasse

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Lasse, noted.

That said, I dont think you can go anaerobic by placing a mesh bag with the stuff in sump.
If you do not go anaerobic - no denitrification - no real use of the stuff. But if you put a mesh bag in the sump and not "shake" it every day - probably the inner part will be anaerobic - but then - the Si problem. However if you do regular WC you will limit the concentration - as I did the first months

Sincerely Lasse
 

BZOFIQ

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If you do not go anaerobic - no denitrification - no real use of the stuff. But if you put a mesh bag in the sump and not "shake" it every day - probably the inner part will be anaerobic - but then - the Si problem. However if you do regular WC you will limit the concentration - as I did the first months

Sincerely Lasse

makes sense, so after while there is no leaching? just initially?
 

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@Lasse
Been reading this thread, I’m still a little confused if my use of siporax is worthwhile?

my tank is only 14g, I have around 270g in 3 bags, one in each of the three back chambers of the aio, I was under the impression that it would supplement my live rock?

Are you saying that to do this it needs to work anaerobic, but in doing so would raise Si, without regular WC? I do regular WC, but not sure if bags of siporax in the chambers is classed as anaerobic or not, if it isn’t is there any point in having the siporax in the tank?

As you can see I’m a little confused, any help to get me straight on this issue would be great, as space in the chambers is limited and could be put to better use if it’s not doing a job, many thanks.
 
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