MikeTR Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Feature Article: Silica In Reef AquariumsBy Randy Holmes-farley, Ph.D. Why would I recommend dosing silica? Largely because creatures in our tanks use it, the concentrations in our tanks (at least in mine) are below natural levels, and the sponges, mollusks, and diatoms may not be getting enough to thrive. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/1/aafeature1 Looks like I have some reading to do. 4 Quote Link to comment
MikeTR Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 The radula of limpets, such as Patella vulgata, contain large amounts of Si (up to 35%) and Fe (up to 51%), and substantial amounts of Al, Ca, K, Mg, Na, and P. The radula of chitons seem to be more variable, with Zn in particular varying substantially between species.18-21 Quote Link to comment
Chew_Magna Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Put mine in for the lottery. Quote Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Where is this setting you have turned on? I've never seen it. When you click on notifications, in the upper right of the drop down thing it says options. I have the ones for instant notifications of quotes, likes checked - I didn't alter anything but it just randomly stopped telling me I had ben quoted. For instance, your quote didn't notify me, nor did Tiki's. Quote Link to comment
metrokat Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Feature Article: Silica In Reef Aquariums By Randy Holmes-farley, Ph.D. Why would I recommend dosing silica? Largely because creatures in our tanks use it, the concentrations in our tanks (at least in mine) are below natural levels, and the sponges, mollusks, and diatoms may not be getting enough to thrive. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/1/aafeature1 Looks like I have some reading to do. I sent an email to RHF just now with a link to nualgi. If it is indeed soluble silica, then I might re-instate my order. 2 Quote Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 I sent an email to RHF just now with a link to nualgi. If it is indeed soluble silica, then I might re-instate my order. I'd be interested in this as well 1 Quote Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 I sent an email to RHF just now with a link to nualgi. If it is indeed soluble silica, then I might re-instate my order. I'd be interested in this as well Me 3. Quote Link to comment
xiaoxiy Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 I'd be interested in this as well Me 3. Me 4. Quote Link to comment
metrokat Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Nualgi just emailed me back, their product is in fact soluble silica. 1 Quote Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Get on it! I'm going to wait to see about this stuff. I doubt they'll give me a free trial just to see how it balances my tank. Quote Link to comment
Chew_Magna Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Got my email from them, they're gonna ship me some too. Looks like the sample will last me around 12 weeks with my tank size. I may have over estimated my water volume so it may last longer with .5ml doses compared to their recommended .7ml. Quote Link to comment
metrokat Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Okay I emailed them to re-instate my order. TIKI: I'm sorry to have derailed your thread. Quote Link to comment
xiaoxiy Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Got my email from them, they're gonna ship me some too. Looks like the sample will last me around 12 weeks with my tank size. I may have over estimated my water volume so it may last longer with .5ml doses compared to their recommended .7ml. I also got an email from them too! Quote Link to comment
brandon429 Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Hey if you can find randy to respond you will be the first web reefer to type chat w him in two yrs he disappeared~ Quote Link to comment
MikeTR Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 I sent an email to RHF just now with a link to nualgi. If it is indeed soluble silica, then I might re-instate my order. See what Mr Sprung has to say about it. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Interesting note: I had a diatom bloom about a week after my mantis shrimp molted. It had just cleared up before I dosed the Nualgi, so we'll see what I get in terms of a diatom bloom from the additive. 2 Quote Link to comment
metrokat Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Hey if you can find randy to respond you will be the first web reefer to type chat w him in two yrs he disappeared~ Not really Brandon. Been type chatting since last year actually. See what Mr Sprung has to say about it. Should I email him too? Quote Link to comment
MikeTR Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Should I email him too? Absolutely, he's an algae afficionado Quote Link to comment
metrokat Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Okay I emailed Mr Sprung also. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 From Facebook: "Nualgi Aquarium: John, thank you for your comprehensive post! We look forward to your results. We do not recommend any nutrients concurrent with Nualgi dosing. So we would recommend you discontinue Kalk, reef roids and acropower. We also recommend feeding once every other day as Nualgi produces zooplankton which are also going to feed your fish and coral Unlike · Reply · 1 · about an hour ago" I'm still waiting for a reply back about this one. I get the reasoning behind discontinuing feeding the corals, but I'm confused about why one would discontinue kalk when it's helping to maintain alkalinity, calcium and pH stability. Quote Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Deleted quote I think STN is a disease related to heat - everything I can find on pubmed, google scholar, etc. suggests a Vibrio spp. infection that is spurred by temperatures over 80.6 degrees From Facebook: "Nualgi Aquarium: John, thank you for your comprehensive post! We look forward to your results. We do not recommend any nutrients concurrent with Nualgi dosing. So we would recommend you discontinue Kalk, reef roids and acropower. We also recommend feeding once every other day as Nualgi produces zooplankton which are also going to feed your fish and coral Unlike · Reply · 1 · about an hour ago" I'm still waiting for a reply back about this one. I get the reasoning behind discontinuing feeding the corals, but I'm confused about why one would discontinue kalk when it's helping to maintain alkalinity, calcium and pH stability. I'll be interested to hear their reasoning, too. F. Quote Link to comment
MikeTR Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 That article I linked above references limewater as having silica. "Limewater may also be a significant, but likely small source of soluble silica. According to the Mississippi Lime Company, their food grade lime35 contains 0.2% by weight silica, of which less than 0.1% is “crystalline silica”. If these values are accurate, and “non-crystalline silica” is actually a soluble form of some kind, then the addition of soluble silica to the tank can be calculated. A typical reef tank might add 1-2% of its volume in saturated limewater daily. Saturated limewater contains on the order of 1.5 g/L of Ca(OH)2, so it consequently contains about 3 mg/L of silica (assuming 0.2 wt percent SiO2 in the lime). At the daily delivery rate of 1-2% of the tank volume, the silica addition to the tank could be on the order of 0.5- 1 mM/day (0.03-0.06 ppm/day SiO2). That delivery is not insignificant relative to the few mM that may be present in normal ocean water. I dose limewater in my tank (using Mississippi Lime Company quicklime, CaO, not the grade described here), and do not detect any soluble silica in my tank. Consequently, in my tank, this mechanism may be useful for adding soluble silica, but is apparently still small relative to the silica demand (see below)." 1 Quote Link to comment
natalia_la_loca Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 From Facebook: "Nualgi Aquarium: John, thank you for your comprehensive post! We look forward to your results. We do not recommend any nutrients concurrent with Nualgi dosing. So we would recommend you discontinue Kalk, reef roids and acropower. We also recommend feeding once every other day as Nualgi produces zooplankton which are also going to feed your fish and coral Unlike · Reply · 1 · about an hour ago" I'm still waiting for a reply back about this one. I get the reasoning behind discontinuing feeding the corals, but I'm confused about why one would discontinue kalk when it's helping to maintain alkalinity, calcium and pH stability. I'm getting the impression their PR person doesn't really know what they're talking about. I ordered a sample too. I guess they'll send it to just about anyone, because I told them up front that I had seahorses and that I had serious doubts about my tank being a good candidate for their product. Their response was that I should still cut back on feeding and on carbon dosing but that seahorses would love the zooplankton that the Nualgi feeds. If anyone thinks you can keep an adult seahorse alive on zooplankton grown inside the tank, I've got a bridge to sell ya. Might use it on my nano instead. I could see my zoas liking this stuff. Although they're already doing fine, so...I dunno. 1 Quote Link to comment
AWillroth Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 I just got my free sample and am trying it in my 20 gallon. I have a heavy cyano and gha problem right now, so we'll see how it goes. 1 Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 I just got my free sample and am trying it in my 20 gallon. I have a heavy cyano and gha problem right now, so we'll see how it goes. Keep us posted! Quote Link to comment
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