Can anyone recomend a silicate test kit that is at least semi-accurate?
I cannot beat this algae problem completely, and it's bugging the crap outa me. I don't mind a little, but it's just getting annoying. I cut it down significantly with the flow change I did after MACNA, but recently, I've just seen the algae migrate to a new spot in the tank. I think it is actually snickering at me at this point.
I've eliminated just about every other cause I can think of, and now I'm starting to lean towards the potential of silicates. It would most likely be coming from either my water (I use RO/DI, and get 0-1 tds after DI from a typhoon III unit, but from what I'm reading, ro/di will not eliminate silicates completely and I have REALLY terrible well water as I live near the bay and wetlands convergance, and the water table is rediculously high here and pollutes the well water) or my salt.
I'm using reef crystals, and have been for years, but have been reading recently about the potential for silicate spikes coming from salts, particularly reef crystals.
Just some tank background info:
Lights are only on about 8 hours total, I over skim, I'm running carbon, doing 25% water changes weekly, salinity is 1.026, ph remains relatively close to 8.2, alk, calc, mag are all within acceptable limits, I cut feedings down to half of what I was feeding every other day as opposed to every day, and my RO/DI unit is testing at 0-1TDS after DI. Phosphates are undetectable, nitrate is under 10, no trite, ammonia etc, and all corals and fish seem vibrant, healthy, and growing. I'm running a sump with chaeto that I keep pruned regularly. Temp rides right around 80 degrees F. Oh, and I do not dose anything.
I cannot beat this algae problem completely, and it's bugging the crap outa me. I don't mind a little, but it's just getting annoying. I cut it down significantly with the flow change I did after MACNA, but recently, I've just seen the algae migrate to a new spot in the tank. I think it is actually snickering at me at this point.
I've eliminated just about every other cause I can think of, and now I'm starting to lean towards the potential of silicates. It would most likely be coming from either my water (I use RO/DI, and get 0-1 tds after DI from a typhoon III unit, but from what I'm reading, ro/di will not eliminate silicates completely and I have REALLY terrible well water as I live near the bay and wetlands convergance, and the water table is rediculously high here and pollutes the well water) or my salt.
I'm using reef crystals, and have been for years, but have been reading recently about the potential for silicate spikes coming from salts, particularly reef crystals.
Just some tank background info:
Lights are only on about 8 hours total, I over skim, I'm running carbon, doing 25% water changes weekly, salinity is 1.026, ph remains relatively close to 8.2, alk, calc, mag are all within acceptable limits, I cut feedings down to half of what I was feeding every other day as opposed to every day, and my RO/DI unit is testing at 0-1TDS after DI. Phosphates are undetectable, nitrate is under 10, no trite, ammonia etc, and all corals and fish seem vibrant, healthy, and growing. I'm running a sump with chaeto that I keep pruned regularly. Temp rides right around 80 degrees F. Oh, and I do not dose anything.
