RODI water with high Silicon

[Pufferlover95]

I did my first ever ICP test with ATI and they gave me the opportunity to test my RO water as well. Everything came back as expected except it showed the presence of Silicone.

I change out all the filters on my Express Water RODI unit just like they recommend, so why do I have this in the water and what can I do about it? I have diatoms in my 2 newly upgraded tanks so adding fresh water with Silicon isn’t going to help that.

 

[CasperOe]

Here's a good previous post for you to check out!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Silicate is common in ro/di, but unless you have problematic levels of diatoms, it is no concern. I dosed silicate regularly.

In general, ro/di at 0-1 ppm tds is not a problem if made from drinkable water.

 

[Mikeltee]

I just got the Hanna LC Silicate checker. I have brand new rodi filters and di and my silicates are .35 in the rodi with 0TDS. I wouldn't sweat it. If you have algae problems, maybe try that fancy $50 DI that supposedly filters the silicates. I use airwaterice media. I never had algae problems and have had this same rodi setup for 6 years. i could go 2 weeks without cleaning the glass until these coolia dinos came along. Now I dose silicates.

 

[Pufferlover95]

I just got the Hanna LC Silicate checker. I have brand new rodi filters and di and my silicates are .35 in the rodi with 0TDS. I wouldn't sweat it. If you have algae problems, maybe try that fancy $50 DI that supposedly filters the silicates. I use airwaterice media. I never had algae problems and have had this same rodi setup for 6 years. i could go 2 weeks without cleaning the glass until these coolia dinos came along. Now I dose silicates.

That’s good to know. I was considering getting the Hanna checker and testing myself, but if you did the work for me I’ll save the money, lol. Interesting even brand new still shows elevated levels.

 

[Mikeltee]

I've seen people spend hundreds just on replaceable filters to get rid of silicates. I honestly wonder if they can see a difference. Most of the stuff they sell in this hobby is useless. They will send a hypeman out to the forums to push the latest trends. Let's take sending in samples for example. That was the norm for years. Some charge well over $100. Recently, it has come to light that you are better off testing at home. Like why didn't someone think to send in known parameters years ago? Hype men and fake news is why. Less is more in this hobby. I've lost >10k jumping on the bandwagons. This place has done me far worse than good. I still haven't learned my lesson. I just spent $100 redoing my return nozzle. Lol