Silicate Dosing for Reef Tanks

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, exact doses are not critical. Diatoms will just use however much is available and drive the levels back down. :)

 

[slingfox]

I use canister filters on a temporary basis for about an hour. I connect the filter to a gravel vacuum and suck the sand. For rock, I will scrub with a toothbrush and vacuum algae. This allows hours of work and removal that would be limited if done with water change. WC or blowing /scrubbing is not very effective for controlling algae unless physical removal is included.

Ah okay makes sense. I will look into this since I like to vacuum my sand periodically. Do you have a recommended gravel vac?

 

[Fishfinder]

FWIW, exact doses are not critical. Diatoms will just use however much is available and drive the levels back down. :)

Makes sense, thank you.

 

[Fishfinder]

These calculations are based on quite a few assumptions, maybe you want to still use a smaller dose first and increase step by step.

I assume your tank is struggling with dinoflagellates? Maybe you can open a thread and the community might be able to access the proplem in greater detail. I see you had a thread a year ago, but it's still worth a try I suppose.

I really just wanted a second opinion on the dose. I appreciate the help. I am dealing with some Dino’s. Not the horrible take over the tank kind. Just the brown sand kind. I’m just tired of looking at them after 5 months. Going to hit them with silica, sand UV, and some bacteria dosing combined. Hopefully that will do it

 

[CHSUB]

Ah okay makes sense. I will look into this since I like to vacuum my sand periodically. Do you have a recommended gravel vac?

No, I just use the one I have. I did buy a connector at the hardware store for the different sized hoses. Yes, it’s fairly basic but very useful. I don’t go at all deep, just the surface of the sand because I don’t want to remove worms and good stuff only algae and detritus.

 

[ILOVEYOUHALFISH]

Silicate feeds diatoms and sponges in reef tanks. Diatoms in particular are good at outcompeting dinos, feeding copepods, and might even feed corals and filter feeders when scraping the glass. Diatoms are also less visible than the standard green film algae they replace.

There is no need to test for silicate because it depletes quickly and the dose I’m suggesting will not accumulate over time. In addition, the dose has absolutely no interference with phosphate test kits. It will not cause false positives.

Here are Amazon links to purchase sodium silicate:

https://a.co/d/9wJqPLJ

https://a.co/d/5KGT7It

Sodium silicate is very thick. It’s not as simple as saying 1 gram of silicate = 1 mL of silicate. I accounted for this by using its density, so pick whatever’s most convenient.

How often should this be done?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How often should this be done?

I recommend it once a week or so. FWIW, Miami won’t be responding as he passed away.

 

[ILOVEYOUHALFISH]

How often should this be done?

I recommend it once a week or so. FWIW, Miami won’t be responding as he passed away.

Thanks for the reply Randy, and I’m sorry to hear about Miami.