# Silicate removing compound



## Ben C (21 Jun 2015)

Evening all, 

I currently have an outbreak of long diatom synedra and reading about it a couple of other sites recommend using some form of silicate removing compound in the filter. 

Can anyone recommend such a thing? or any other method of overcoming this horrible brown algae?
Will Amanos and ottos eat it? 

I understand it will disappear in time once all the silicates in the new substrate have become depleted, but I worry I'll lose a bunch of plants in the meantime. 

Many thanks all, 

Ben


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## Christos Ioannou (22 Jun 2015)

Please see this link  Diatoms. What are they and how can I get rid of them?
The article has reference to academic data.

_Following advice in this forum, my experience was however totally different._
Meticulous clean of filter and tank, frequent water changes (2x week until it starts to clean up), lower the light, less disturbance of substrate, Sera Purigen in filter, patience. And patience as well. Also patience.
Ottos will clean it up; nerite snails will clean it up as well. Mostly from hardscape and plants with large leaves. But do not expect miracles on fragile plants (monte carlo; cuba)
Did not go down the path of adding a silicate removing compound as it seems to be removing useful things as well (phosphates). 
Also, as I understand, silicates are thought to be the culprit since diatom shells are composed/made up of this substance. But people seem to experience diatoms in tanks with no silicates (white sand).


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## parotet (22 Jun 2015)

Hi Ben

I agree with Christos, my brown diatoms outbreaks were solved with good and periodical substrate detritus syphoning, water changes and filter maintenance (I have notice I do clean my filter quite often, generally every second month, if something goes wrong once a month. I don't want debris or anaerobic conditions in my filter). Of course critters will help, but you have to address the source. Once solved, they will help you.

IME organics build-up has always been related to brown diatoms. Regarding the anti-silicate pads/products, it is quite controversial matter and I am no expert, but if you have a read to old threads in UKAPS you will read quite expert people/scientists explaining why these solutions are useless. Basically it seems that it is nearly impossible to get rid of silicates in a tank and the most important thing to realize is that what we call silicate is really a lot of chemical compounds that contain Si, but that can or cannot be chemically available to the algae/plants. In other words, it is like if you threw inside your tank a nail to get iron for your plants... they won't uptake it, isn't it?

I would try the cheap/easy/consistent solution first: 2x weekly 50% WCs, good syphoning even lifting a little bit the hardscape, shake your plants and let them release all the debris they hold, filter cleaning (including pad rinsing)... then keep on doing the WCs and add shrimps, Otocinclus, snails, etc.

Jordi


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## dw1305 (22 Jun 2015)

Hi all, 





parotet said:


> Regarding the anti-silicate pads/products, it is quite controversial matter and I am no expert, but if you have a read to old threads in UKAPS you will read quite expert people/scientists explaining why these solutions are useless. Basically it seems that it is nearly impossible to get rid of silicates in a tank and the most important thing to realize is that what we call silicate is really a lot of chemical compounds that contain Si, but that can or cannot be chemically available to the algae/plants. In other words, it is like if you threw inside your tank a nail to get iron for your plants... they won't uptake it, isn't it?


That is pretty much it. Diatoms can only extract silicon (for their frustules) from orthosilic acids. 

There is more in these posts <"Silicate - Brown Algae"> & <"Diatom - My FACTS...">.

cheers Darrel


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## Jose (22 Jun 2015)

Most people have silicates in their waters right? But do all these people have algae problems? No, then it must be something else. I think its similar to the debate about phosphates causing algae.


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## ian_m (22 Jun 2015)

I think you will find the so called silicate removal compounds also remove phosphate, great for a marine tank, but get almost instantly exhausted in an EI dosed planted tank due to presence of high phosphate levels (potassium phosphate in EI).


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## Ben C (27 Jun 2015)

Thanks everyone - the advice is much appreciated. 
I did a really big clean-out of everything last week and things seem to be getting better. The filter was *filthy* - the colour of the stuff coming out of it was incredible... The diatoms are creeping back in, but far less than before. Anyone else with this problem - I recommend tackling the filter first - just remove as many diatoms and whatever is causing them from the system altogether. Staying on top of the water changes is hard work, but gets results. Am hoping they're on the way out now. 

Thanks again. Will update this thread with anything else I learn/discover. 

Ben


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## BexHaystack (3 May 2016)

Hi Ben, interested to know how you got on and what you learnt?


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## Ben C (3 May 2016)

Hi Bex, 

Hmm - well it got worse before it got better. I ended up doing a complete escape in the end. Just needed it. 
Happy with the results and not a diatom in sight. A bit of BBA on the unmoveable rocks that I need to clean somehow, but otherwise very happy. 

I learned not to start a new tank with a new filter, essentially. Resting on my laurels slightly, the filter had been unused for about four months and was dry. The naivety in me somewhere told me everything would be OK. In the end, the diatoms just killed it. I'd use mature filter media next time. 

Hope this helps. You got something similar going on?


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