cracker

Interesting thread by an "old school" reefer from an American website: Neither PO4 nor SiO2 are villains, nor should be. A healthy reef has surprising amounts of both floating around. It is simply the fleeting lack of a balanced set of organisms to exploit such energy sources that leads to blooms of one sort or the other. Take SiO2 --it's correctly implicated in diatom blooms, but all effort to remove SiO2 from the reef tank is in vain, because your rock and even your tank glass will continue to release it. Diatom blooms in new tanks are typically superseded by cyanobacteria, and those in turn by microalgae, and those in turn by higher algae. PO4 is an even more vital part of animal nutrition than SiO2! You simply cannot aim to eradicate it. If you have excessive --or more correctly "underutilized" amounts of SiO2 in your system, diatoms will take care of them, and in turn support higher lifeforms. Diatoms are VITAL components of a reef tank, and most experienced reefers know that a new-tank diatom bloom will eventually subside. If you have underutilized amounts of PO4 in your system, and do not wish certain algae to benefit from it, you have to look to eliminating the source rather than mopping up the effect. 8 cases out of 10, 'excess' PO4 comes from the hobbyist's own hands: when feeding or dosing with 'additives'. More rarely, a death in the tank has re-released the animal's bound-up PO4 into the environment. The whole issue of filling in all biological niches with the appropriate species, to exploit all 'excesses' and achieve chemical and ecological balance --that is the esence of reefkeeping. I think I believe this theory actually. CRACKER

From the same article. Make sure that you use a compound that is specific for silicate removal and that says so on the label. It should not be a multi-purpose product. The best results are obtained with compounds that state that all they remove is silicate and silicic acid and nothing else. That is how you will obtain the maximum silicate and silicic acid removal rate.

some interseting reading from Albert J Theil. Silicates in the aquarium: Many hobbyists are under the impression that using reverse osmosis water or deionized water will solve the problem, and that doing so will remove the silicates and silicic acid from that water. This is, unfortunately, not the case. Such units, even if combined, will remove silicate and silicic acid for a very short period of time only and, then, the silicate and silicic acid will get through the membrane and the resins and will start to build up in the tank. By a short period of time I mean in a matter of days, depending on how much silicate and silicic acid the water you are treating actually contains. Tests have shown that, when treating water with 14 ppm of silicate, the silicate and silicic acid came through the membrane and the resins used in combination with the R.O. unit, after less than 100 gallons of water had passed through the filtration set-up (lab. notes ref. 95/6/-012). Monaco"This is really not much water when you consider that most hobbyists believe that using reverse osmosis, deionization or a combination of both, gives them water quality of very high purity levels. Obviously this is not so, and that belief is a totally false one". R.O. and D.I. remove silicates and silicic acid for "some" time" only, after which the membrane of the reverse osmosis filter and the resins in the deionizers let the compounds through. The conclusion to draw from this is that, regardless of how you filter your water, silicates and silicic acid will find their way into your aquarium's water, and you are going to have to take steps to remove it. This is discussed in the Next section for both the water in the tank and the raw water. If you do not, diatoms willappear in your tank.

have a search on reefcentral, advanced aquarist and the likes....see what they say. i havent searched for awhile but remember seeing it as no good. cant remeber the reason now, but could soon find out. distillation is cheaper than RODI, otherwise everybody would be using distilled. are you using it Brian? and if so are you finding issues at all?

Thanks Chim!

distilled is a "no no" in aquariums sharkey....you may want to do some reading online. im gonna give it a coupla months and see how my system settles in. Then make a decision on top off.

yeah, meant diatoms.....

if you stuck a tube over the outlet it would become a pump.

pie, do you get dinos on your sand bed at all? i presume you use rodi?

Im on tank rain supply. i dont think i will have an issue with minerals/metals. im thinking carbon, then 1 micron, then UV for top off. Mmmmmm.....lots of options but what is really needed for tank supply.

just wondering who uses these and in which part of your system. if you use it correctly you should be able to eliminate RODI top off, if pre filtered thru a 1 micron filter. what other ways are being used?

Awesome Wasp...Im going to ring her and tell on you!!!! :lol:

Heres two thirds of the tank....My camera sux when it comes to tanks...seems fine for everything else!

I find the stiffer valves are better as they stay stable...especially for my overflow design. it is critical they dont move.

i'll try and take some decent shots tonight.

I need a decent camera...chim, came and take some shots! helaifax...Leuci 400 and 250W MH. (from italy) available from auckland. 20k and 14k.

enjoy!

all good. sitting on a bearer!

Welcome to come have a GORK!!!

Easily fixed with Salifert phosphate killer. Nails it real quick.

I gotta pulsed one too Chim!! 8)

Just put another stream in place...... fixed 8500lph...... :lol: I gotta washing machine!! Awesome.

Ive changed my collection position. Drove the East coast all the way up to wenderholm. OkURA river 1 hour before high is crystal. Everything else SUX. Murky as hell. How much water you need for water change?

No probs...All welcome...Just PM me.

Crack me up Mince and cheese man!!!