Coral reefer
Past President
Looking good!
Squist's RSR 250
- Thread starter Squist
- Start date
Squist
Guest
Might it be possible that Si can be reduced with snails?
Hypothesis: my tank's Si reduction, from 3,500 mg/liter (January 2020) to 0.78 mg/l (June 2020), might have been helped by snails.
I have added a ton of Dwarf Cerith snails; tiny ones that seem to reproduce like mad.
Might they be consuming Si in their shell formation, much like the dinoflagellates that I have been working for months eradicating.
See this tangentially-related article about a person diagnosed with Si poisoning in her lungs due to snail dust from her backyard. I know... a pretty serendipitous search. But not too far of a stretch, is it?
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
A 70-yr-old woman visited our hospital for shortness of breath. Chest CT showed ground glass opacity and traction bronchiectasis at right middle, lower lobe and left lingular division.[ ... ] Polarized optical microscopy showed lung lesions were consisted of silica and carbon materials. She was a housewife and never been exposed to silica dusts occupationally. She has taken freshwater snails as a health-promoting food for 40 yr and ground shell powder was piled up on her backyard where she spent day-time. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of snail shell and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy of lung lesion revealed that silica occupies important portion. Herein, we report the first known case of silicosis due to chronic inhalation of shell powder of freshwater snail.
Hypothesis: my tank's Si reduction, from 3,500 mg/liter (January 2020) to 0.78 mg/l (June 2020), might have been helped by snails.
I have added a ton of Dwarf Cerith snails; tiny ones that seem to reproduce like mad.
Might they be consuming Si in their shell formation, much like the dinoflagellates that I have been working for months eradicating.
See this tangentially-related article about a person diagnosed with Si poisoning in her lungs due to snail dust from her backyard. I know... a pretty serendipitous search. But not too far of a stretch, is it?
Silicosis Caused by Chronic Inhalation of Snail Shell Powder - PMC
A 70-yr-old woman visited our hospital for shortness of breath. Chest CT showed ground glass opacity and traction bronchiectasis at right middle, lower lobe and left lingular division. Video-assisted thoracic surgical biopsy at right lower lobe and ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
A 70-yr-old woman visited our hospital for shortness of breath. Chest CT showed ground glass opacity and traction bronchiectasis at right middle, lower lobe and left lingular division.[ ... ] Polarized optical microscopy showed lung lesions were consisted of silica and carbon materials. She was a housewife and never been exposed to silica dusts occupationally. She has taken freshwater snails as a health-promoting food for 40 yr and ground shell powder was piled up on her backyard where she spent day-time. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of snail shell and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy of lung lesion revealed that silica occupies important portion. Herein, we report the first known case of silicosis due to chronic inhalation of shell powder of freshwater snail.
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ofzakaria
Guest
I think this is what you are observing
In case of high silica and po4 is low, rowphse remove silica much quicker
www.theaquariumsolution.com
In case of high silica and po4 is low, rowphse remove silica much quicker
Will ROWAphos remove silicates? | D-D The Aquarium Solution
www.theaquariumsolution.com
Squist
Guest
I think I am on the road to beating dinoflagellates!
Update. Two weeks with no vacuuming. For _months_ I was vacuuming every 2-3 days. Then blackout--and a lot of other work*. Now this:
Tank hasn't looked better! There's a lot to update. I am working with other BAR members on a dino case study and a 1-year anniversary update. Super stoked!
*Other work: Si reduction with Rowaphos, increased N and P, stopped water changes, bacteria boosts, and clean-up-crew.
Update. Two weeks with no vacuuming. For _months_ I was vacuuming every 2-3 days. Then blackout--and a lot of other work*. Now this:
Tank hasn't looked better! There's a lot to update. I am working with other BAR members on a dino case study and a 1-year anniversary update. Super stoked!
*Other work: Si reduction with Rowaphos, increased N and P, stopped water changes, bacteria boosts, and clean-up-crew.
Hell yeah, man! Nothing makes you appreciate a clean tank like visiting an apocalypse on dinoflagellates.
Solitaryensis
Supporting Member
That green Nepthea/sinularia has grown quite a bit!
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Squist
Guest
It was a great addition and one of my favs! Here's what it looked like last Feb after I got it from you:
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Squist
Guest
Year One Photo Update
I got around to finishing this weekend an annual sump breakdown and deep clean. Good time for a photo update. Tank is 14 months running. Very pleased with how things are shaping up.
Aug 30, 2020 Tests
Alk: 8.4
Ca: 425
Mg: 1500
NO3: 20
PO4: 0.02
Temp: 78 F.
Salinity: 35
pH: 8.2
I got around to finishing this weekend an annual sump breakdown and deep clean. Good time for a photo update. Tank is 14 months running. Very pleased with how things are shaping up.
Aug 30, 2020 Tests
Alk: 8.4
Ca: 425
Mg: 1500
NO3: 20
PO4: 0.02
Temp: 78 F.
Salinity: 35
pH: 8.2
Coral reefer
Past President
Nice pics. Parameters looking good too.
Solitaryensis
Supporting Member
Looking good!
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Squist
Guest
The cryptic fuge. I did it with Uniseals. My first time using them. Fantastic seal and super-easy to work with.
Linked image
Linked image
Linked image
All the rock is Stax. The left column is three pieces: the top crown--three layers cemented together as one piece; the column--stacked and cemented; and a 3/4" acrylic base that the column is attached. The stax pile on the right gets to change shape everyone once in awhile.
There are some pics of the back on page 1 of my tank profile
Attachments
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Squist
Guest
Had the pleasure of participating in the BAR Spotlight. Including link to complement the journal.
https://bareefers.org/forum/threads/september-tank-spot-light-is-squist.26743/
https://bareefers.org/forum/threads/september-tank-spot-light-is-squist.26743/
Squist
Guest
PAR Filter Experiment
Hoping a member borrowing the MQ-510 PAR meter might be interested in a filter experiment.
My tank has a shelf for SPS that receives around 450 PAR in the center of my tank. To help acclimate a new SPS, I have placed a piece of parchment paper on top of my tank's cover, below my light, and above a new coral I picked up from @Coral reefer; a nice chunk of tri color valida.
I want to use a screen to reduce PAR in only that spot to acclimate this SPS instead of moving the coral from low PAR to high PAR zones.
If you are interested, have some way of suspending a piece of parchament paper or paper towel below your light, while measuring PAR 4-5 inches below the surface and under the paper filter, I am curious by how much PAR is reduced.
I figure I can reduce layers and size of screen over time to acclimate the coral.
Hoping a member borrowing the MQ-510 PAR meter might be interested in a filter experiment.
My tank has a shelf for SPS that receives around 450 PAR in the center of my tank. To help acclimate a new SPS, I have placed a piece of parchment paper on top of my tank's cover, below my light, and above a new coral I picked up from @Coral reefer; a nice chunk of tri color valida.
I want to use a screen to reduce PAR in only that spot to acclimate this SPS instead of moving the coral from low PAR to high PAR zones.
If you are interested, have some way of suspending a piece of parchament paper or paper towel below your light, while measuring PAR 4-5 inches below the surface and under the paper filter, I am curious by how much PAR is reduced.
I figure I can reduce layers and size of screen over time to acclimate the coral.
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Coral reefer
Past President
Cool idea!
