ICP Test. Your Silicon levels are too high.

[SouthSko]

So my tank has been off for some time. It's been driving me crazy. I got my test back today and WHOA. I take it it's coming from my RODI

Element Analysis Setpoint Deviation
Si 2757 µg l 100 µg l 2657.00
▲
Is there a recommended filter to remove the Si post DI? Would you recommend I run some GFO?

 

[MTBake]

Welcome to R2R

Yes, silicate can come from your source water. Adding a second di canister can help.

I actually added the pro di resin kit from brs to help with my silicate issue. Works well for me.

 

[MTBake]

What exactly do you mean by your tank has been off lately?

 

[Kaleb W Bellamy]

Following. I'm having issues with Cyanobacteria as well

 

[spiraling]

replacing my DI canister got rid of it in my RO water (per ICP) . I ran some GFO as that is supposed to get rid of it in the tank. I did see some diatoms. I have really low phosphorous so I only ran it for a week or so, then let water changes take care of the rest.

 

[MTBake]

Following. I'm having issues with Cyanobacteria as well

What size tank and what do you use for flow?

Nutrient levels could also help. Nitrates and phosphates to be exact.

 

[SouthSko]

What exactly do you mean by your tank has been off lately?

Certain corals don't look happy and are not growing while others are doing fine.

 

[MTBake]

Certain corals don't look happy and are not growing while others are doing fine.

How long has the tank been running?

Which coral do you have trouble with? Sps? Lps? Random?

Could you list the tank size and equipment? A full parameter rundown could also help us help you.

 

[SouthSko]

How long has the tank been running?

Which coral do you have trouble with? Sps? Lps? Random?

Could you list the tank size and equipment? A full parameter rundown could also help us help you.

25 Gallon. Random corals are not happy. My silicates are off the charts (27x times expected). I will try and post my ICP pdf, but I cant figure out how to attach it ATM.

 

[MTBake]

25 Gallon. Random corals are not happy. My silicates are off the charts (27x times expected). I will try and post my ICP pdf, but I cant figure out how to attach it ATM.

I'm not entirely convinced it's silicate that's causing your coral issues.

Any algae problems to go along with the high silicate? That's usually the tell tale sign of high silicate in a reef. If so, what kind of algae?

 

[SouthSko]

I wish I could upload the pdf. PM me if you would like me to send it to you. Here is the best I could do. I can see my Ca is reading higher than my test kit. My MG is reading a bit lower. Sorry for not getting back earlier. Prego wife came home and things change.

Unwanted heavy metals (25 Gallons)
Element Analysis Setpoint Deviation
Hg 0 µg/l 0,1 µg/l -0.1
Se 0 µg/l 0,1 µg/l -0.1
Cd 0 µg/l 0,1 µg/l -0.1
Sn 0 µg/l 0,1 µg/l -0.1
Sb 0 µg/l 0,1 µg/l -0.1
As 0 µg/l 0,1 µg/l -0.1
Al 18 µg/l 2 µg/l 16
Pb 0 µg/l 0,1 µg/l -0.1
Ti 0 µg/l 0,1 µg/l -0.1
Cu 0 µg/l 0.1 µg/l -0.1
La 0 µg/l 0.1 µg/l -0.1
Sc 0 µg/l 0.1 µg/l -0.1
W 0 µg/l 0.1 µg/l -0.1
Macro-Elements (25 Gallons)
Element Analysis Setpoint Deviation
Na 10047 mg/l 10700 mg/l -653
Ca 482 mg/l 440 mg/l 42
Mg 1245 mg/l 1370 mg/l -125
K 325 mg/l 400 mg/l -75
Br 37 mg/l 62 mg/l -25
B 3.212 mg/l 4,5 mg/l -1.29
Sr 3.139 mg/l 8 mg/l -4.86
S 723 mg/l 900 mg/l -177
Li-Group (25 Gallons)
Element Analysis Setpoint Deviation
Li 104 µg/l 200 µg/l -96
Ni 0 µg/l 5 µg/l -5
Mo 16 µg/l 12 µg/l 4
I-Group (25 Gallons)
Element Analysis Setpoint Deviation
V 0 µg/l 1,2 µg/l -1.2
Zn 2.353 µg/l 4 µg/l -1.65
Mn 0 µg/l 2 µg/l -2
I 0 µg/l 60 µg/l -60
Fe-Group (25 Gallons)
Element Analysis Setpoint Deviation
Cr 0 µg/l 0,1 µg/l -0.1
Co 0 µg/l 0,1 µg/l -0.1
Fe 0 µg/l 0,1 µg/l -0.1
Ba-Group (25 Gallons)
Element Analysis Setpoint Deviation
Ba 32 µg/l 10 µg/l 22
Be 0 µg/l 0,1 µg/l -0.1
Si-Group (25 Gallons)
Element Analysis Setpoint Deviation
Si 2757 µg/l 100 µg/l 2657
Nutrient-Group (25 Gallons)
Element Analysis Setpoint Deviation
P 25 µg/l 6 µg/l 19
PO4 0.0765 mg/l 0.01836 mg/l 0.059

 

[SouthSko]

I'm not entirely convinced it's silicate that's causing your coral issues.

Any algae problems to go along with the high silicate? That's usually the tell tale sign of high silicate in a reef. If so, what kind of algae?

No algae ATM. I have some diatoms, but not like when the tank was breaking in. Coralline algae is out of control so I figured everything should be good.

I can't believe my Fe and I is 0 as I do dose.

 

[SouthSko]

So I looked up my local tap water
Silica 4.2- 9.3 ppm 6.1 ppm average.

For my water filtration i'm running
1 5 micron prefilter
1 5 micron carbon block
1 1 micron carbon block
2 RO membranes in series.

Water comes out at 0-2 TDS and then it goes through 2 mixed DI beds. Can that much Si make its way past all that?

 

[SouthSko]

It appears that it was my water that was the cause (without more ICP tests) .

Water changes were not helping my tank and the kalk top off water was adding more Si every day. Looks like the anion part of my DE resins started dropping off silica for other elements it had a greater affinity for. Crazy part was I thought my color changing resin was still good because the second DI stage was still dark. When i changed out the resin in the second stage you could see that in fact that it was exhausted more in the middle of the container. TDS were still 0

I changed to a 3 stage DI now. 1 stage anion, 1 stage cation, 1 stage mixed. I flushed my makeup water and did a water change and the next day corals that were under the weather were suddenly looking better. My BTAs were also looking better. It seems some corals don't mind 25x levels of Si, but some do. I still need to do more water changes as I am guessing I am at 600 ppm Si minus what the the GFO is removing.

Now you are going to say it was just the water changes. Well water changes were not making things any better until after I changed out my DI resins.

I hope this helps someone else out.

This video helped me out a lot.



1 question. With all this Si in my tank will my GFO get used up very quickly?

 

[Hallowhead]

Welcome to R2R

Yes, silicate can come from your source water. Adding a second di canister can help.

I actually added the pro di resin kit from brs to help with my silicate issue. Works well for me.

How has the pro kit been working ? Any silicon issues anymore ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I know this is an old thread, but...

Elevated silicon (probably silicate, but not 100% certain that is always the form present) is not that unusual, and unless you have a diatom problem, there is no concern (IMO).

I would not do anything about it unless you have seriously problematic diatoms.

 

[Hallowhead]

I know this is an old thread, but...

Elevated silicon (probably silicate, but not 100% certain that is always the form present) is not that unusual, and unless you have a diatom problem, there is no concern (IMO).

I would not do anything about it unless you have seriously problematic diatoms.

I've seen you mention this before and I figured I'd try to kill two birds with one stone. I have slightly elevated phosphates right now causing some red slime and I'm looking into potential solutions. I've added a second di resin canister in hopes to reduce silicate entering my system and now thinking of some chemi pure blue elite or phosguard which will also remove silicate

 

[Kooz21]

Found this on BRS, thought I would share. My silicates test is zero, but ICP shows very high silicon. Based on this, it's due to sand in the ICP sample.

If you are using a mail-in ICP test, be aware that ICP tests instead for silicon, not soluble silicates alone like an aquarium test kit. These results will include silicon from microscopic silicon-containing sand grains suspended in the water sample. You’ll need a silicate test kit to know the actual soluble silica levels in your water.

Silicates are really not all that bad, find out why!

Silicates are really not all that bad, find out why!

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Found this on BRS, thought I would share. My silicates test is zero, but ICP shows very high silicon. Based on this, it's due to sand in the ICP sample.

If you are using a mail-in ICP test, be aware that ICP tests instead for silicon, not soluble silicates alone like an aquarium test kit. These results will include silicon from microscopic silicon-containing sand grains suspended in the water sample. You’ll need a silicate test kit to know the actual soluble silica levels in your water.

Silicates are really not all that bad, find out why!

Silicates are really not all that bad, find out why!

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I don't think that article shows your elevated silicon is necessarily sand. It's just speculation without any evidence by some nonscientists who have not ever used an ICP themselves.

While it is certainly correct that ICP tests all forms of dissolved or suspended silicon, I think if particulates remain in the water and are detected, that diatoms themselves (which are often planktonic) are more likely to be encountered and detected than are quartz sand grains. Some ICP companies also claim to remove particulates. Triton said this once when I asked.

I do agree that some folks get very high silicon for reasons I'm not entirely certain of. There are other forms of silicon that may be present than simple orthosilicate (various cyclic silicate structures, silicone oils and emulsions, etc.), but if you do not have problematic levels of diatoms, I wouldn't spend time trying to figure it out.

 

[Kooz21]

You make a really good point. I would be really surprised (and disappointed) if they didn’t at least centrifuge the samples to pellet any debris before analyzing. It wouldn’t take much to remove even small sand grains and microorganisms.