how to lower silicates in RODI water when not using RODI system?

[shakacuz]

Perhaps the store water has been far higher in previous batches.

it has been higher

 

[Captmcfly]

The way I see it is either A: find a new source of water, B: get the lfs to change and verify the water is 0tds and free of said issues or C: get an rodi and make your own water with little to no hassle and save money in the long run.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

it has been higher

I'm surprised the LFS would charge money for water that's not fully filtered. (Not saying I doubt your word, just that the LFS should be providing better quality water...)

I understand that setting up your own RODI is not something you can/want to do right now. Your other questions about adding things to the containers of freshwater are good ones, but I don't have the answers regarding how effective that might be, whether flow is necessary, etc.

It's worth trying, and then testing with a hobby grade test (not an ICP since that would be cost prohibitive). Run a few experiments and post the results; if nothing else, you'll be contributing new information to the hobby

As Randy pointed out, Si is often present in healthy systems and some dose it, so it's definitely worth finding out if you actually have diatoms.

I don't believe you said how old your tank is. Is it possible that whatever algae you are seeing is just part of the normal maturation process? Is it bothering your coral? I'm not suggesting you ignore something that you feel is a problem, but would hate to have you spend a lot of time and effort trying to fix something that's not broken, so to speak.

Good luck and keep us posted

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

....depending if i keep my 75G, or find a 90G in good condition

From personal experience, if you're shorter than 6 ft tall, stick with the 75. My reef tank is a 90 gallon (48x18 and 24" tall) and between the tank and stand height (32 inches) it's difficult to do maintenance, target feed, etc in the lower third of the tank without getting wet armpits, lol.
If I had it to do over, I would have tried to find a 75. Currently waiting for a new custom tank that will be a lot shorter.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[shakacuz]

I'm surprised the LFS would charge money for water that's not fully filtered. (Not saying I doubt your word, just that the LFS should be providing better quality water...)

I understand that setting up your own RODI is not something you can/want to do right now. Your other questions about adding things to the containers of freshwater are good ones, but I don't have the answers regarding how effective that might be, whether flow is necessary, etc.

It's worth trying, and then testing with a hobby grade test (not an ICP since that would be cost prohibitive). Run a few experiments and post the results; if nothing else, you'll be contributing new information to the hobby

As Randy pointed out, Si is often present in healthy systems and some dose it, so it's definitely worth finding out if you actually have diatoms.

I don't believe you said how old your tank is. Is it possible that whatever algae you are seeing is just part of the normal maturation process? Is it bothering your coral? I'm not suggesting you ignore something that you feel is a problem, but would hate to have you spend a lot of time and effort trying to fix something that's not broken, so to speak.

Good luck and keep us posted

Thank you!

This tank is well over a year old. Coming along at around 1year 5months or so. I am leaning towards diatoms since it does not go away during lights out(although this could indeed just be another strain of dino's?), nor is it colored red/blue/green indicating cyano (my nutrients are actually in line at approx. 5-15 no3, and 0.04-0.09 po4. and i just put in a new bag of chemi pure blue, due to assuming my organics level was too high. and to help with lowering silicates) my glass does have to be scraped daily or the film buildup would make it unpleasant to look at. Corals are fine, still showing good steady growth and PE. but it is unsightly because my sand bed is now sowing patches of this. I do have 2 conches, a sand sifting star fish, and a handful of nassarius snails amongst other CUC in my 40B.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thank you!

This tank is well over a year old. Coming along at around 1year 5months or so. I am leaning towards diatoms since it does not go away during lights out(although this could indeed just be another strain of dino's?), nor is it colored red/blue/green indicating cyano (my nutrients are actually in line at approx. 5-15 no3, and 0.04-0.09 po4. and i just put in a new bag of chemi pure blue, due to assuming my organics level was too high. and to help with lowering silicates) my glass does have to be scraped daily or the film buildup would make it unpleasant to look at. Corals are fine, still showing good steady growth and PE. but it is unsightly because my sand bed is now sowing patches of this. I do have 2 conches, a sand sifting star fish, and a handful of nassarius snails amongst other CUC in my 40B.

Are you scraping regular film algae from the glass, or do you think that buildup is also diatoms? The reality is that the conditions that are good for coral growth are also good for algae growth... I have to clean my glass regularly as well.

Your nitrate and phosphate levels look fine; a lot of the products I know of that reduce Si also reduce Phos, so be careful not to bottom out the phos...

Sandbed stirrers are always a good idea; when my tank went through a phase (about a year and a half after being set up) of increased algae on the sandbed, I would stir small sections of the top layer a couple times a week (the patches weren't big enough to manually remove) and that seemed to help.

One other idea, which may or may not be something to try until you figure out the Si, is to add live phyto to the tank. Depending on what algae you have and how much you have budgeted to spend on your tank, adding small amounts of phyto daily or several times a week can help overall biodiversity. Plus it feeds pods which are a great part of a cuc.

 

[shakacuz]

Are you scraping regular film algae from the glass, or do you think that buildup is also diatoms? The reality is that the conditions that are good for coral growth are also good for algae growth... I have to clean my glass regularly as well.

Your nitrate and phosphate levels look fine; a lot of the products I know of that reduce Si also reduce Phos, so be careful not to bottom out the phos...

One other idea, which may or may not be something to try until you figure out the Si, is to add live phyto to the tank. Depending on what algae you have and how much you have budgeted to spend on your tank, adding small amounts of phyto daily or several times a week can help overall biodiversity. Plus it feeds pods which are a great part of a cuc.

i believe it to be a combination of both film algae and diatoms. can't confirm without a microscope unfortunately but, i am confident in my conclusion.

yeah my fear is adding to much silicate remover will bottom out my po4 and introduce dinos, which is where the idea of adding small bags into my ATO res, and the container jugs.

i dose live phyto 2x a week (Sa/Su), but perhaps dosing throughout the week would be better..i do plan on buying pods to replenish my population but my wrasse is a pig!

Than you again!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

yeah my fear is adding to much silicate remover will bottom out my po4 and introduce dinos, which is where the idea of adding small bags into my ATO res, and the container jugs.

How big is your ATO reservoir? Could you add a small pump there for circulation (if you add silicate remover)?

 

[shakacuz]

How big is your ATO reservoir? Could you add a small pump there for circulation (if you add silicate remover)?

5G. this would be a good idea and what i was leaning towards. was going to experiment with just doing it without to see of any difference.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Last thing; I would strongly suggest to your LFS that they upgrade their filtration for the water they sell... Either they need to change out the existing filters more frequently or add a DI resin stage specifically designed to remove silicates. They're probably directly contributing to your problem (and likely other reefers' issues as well). Unless you're getting the water at no cost, you're wasting $ in the long run.

(At the very least, don't buy the silica removing products from them too! Lol)

 

[Screwgunner]

You can run it through a reactor with phosguard that will remove silicates.

 

[willisd]

I get a lot of silicates from my Red Sea reefer salt mix. Diatoms are a slight factor of life but I have enough ceriths and conch to take care of things.

I would possibly look more into solutions to remove the silicates in your tank vs in the source water.

or alternately just go to the grocery store and get DI water there. It should be less TDS than the water you’re currently getting g sold

 

[TheSheff]

my LFS has consistently sold me water with high silicates(as shown or proven by my ICP tests). how can i remove the silicate out of the water in order to continue using it in my ATO? i do use chemi pure blue in my sump but that’s just to help keep po4, organics, and no3 in check. the continuous increase in silicate is contributing to a diatom bloom in my tank which i’ve begun to address with increasing my CUC to deal specifically with diatoms

i do understand i could go to another vendor or even invest in a RODI system and deal with changing RO membranes or filters, but i live in an apartment and find this option to be too tedious.

i was thinking maybe using ROWAphos or chemi clean, or something specifically for silicate removal (suggestions?) in small amounts in mesh bags in each of the jugs of RODI water i have so the silicate is reduced or removed prior to putting it into my ATO container. is this feasible?

I've seen that on some GFO media it says that it removes silicates maybe give that a look. The one I specifically have seen it on is phosguard

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I've seen that on some GFO media it says that it removes silicates maybe give that a look. The one I specifically have seen it on is phosguard

Yes, both GFO and aluminum oxide bind silicate. They will also both release some iron or aluminum to the water, but that may or may not be a concern.

 

[Koh23]

Really dont get it....

Rodi unit dont require to be permanently mounted, just hook it to any water source, make amount water u need and then store it in some drawer or something....

Its like "yes i wanna have car, but, is there way to avoid buying gas for it"....

There is something called "minimum requirements", and for keeping reef tank, rodi unit is very high on that list.

Buying rodi watee from lfs js just stupid, they saw good oportunity to make some money from nothing, if rodi unit is closet size machine, that costs thousand of money, yes, then it make sense..... Something that is size of average tablet, laptop or good box of cookies...... Really no excuse not to buy one.....

 

[Screwgunner]

The water in the 5 gallon containers at the grocery store is ro water. That is what I filled my tank with.