my rice experiment

[kkil4life]

quick update.....

it appears I got a lil freaked out about the copper, but it turn out its no cause for concern.
the other thing I got a lil woried about was silica. the thing is, I did a silica test BEFORE I knew there was silica in rice (can someone double check this and confirm back), according to what I found there is silicondioxide SiO2 in rice HUSK ASH. does this also appy to white rice?
the reason I did the silica test was that my friend has been telling me that I need to change my sand because it contains silicate, since its a cheap chinese sand that I used. I've never paid attention to it, but come to think of it, I've always had a lil dino which I used to clear up every once in a while. when we did the silica test, it showed 0.25 silica in the water.
THIS IS HOPEFULLY FROM MY SAND AND NOT THE RICE. but I would want icycoral or aurora to check for silica and report their findings. if it is from the rice, do you guys think 0.25 is a cause for concern? or should we just let this go? it would actually be great if icycoral and aurora report no silicates

heres a quick before and after photo
yesterdays pic

and todays pic

if you notice in the pic theres not much change, but in real the dino has seemed to be fading away and is not so thick as before

 

[icycoral]

the working too fast and too well is definitely something to be cautious of......I guess we should "dose like vodka", add 10g initially for every 100gallons then keep adding 10g till we reach a point where N and P are undetectable.

its pretty cool how the rice is working so well, but I think if the nutrients are being pulled out so fast we might need to remove some rice from the reactor.

the next step is definitely going to be interesting.
but hopefully we will have people helping us out with the experiment and more people means more situations that we can tackle.
I think in a month or two the rice train will definitely be something for people to hop onto.

Yup it's def working. It's going to take some trial and error to get the dose right and intervals to reach proper dose but it is exciting that this is working so well. It seems like the amount of reduction in nutrients is going to increase exponentially to the volume of rice used. I'm only using half a cup in a 60 system and aurora is using 1 1/2 cups in a 400 gal system. Very curious to see how this plays out as more people try it.

 

[kkil4life]

after reading advanced aquarist, it appears that silica is found both in food that we feed our fish and in KALK......since I use KALK in large quantities (top off), this could also be a reason for mu 0.25ppm of silica. I think upto 1ppm silica is acceptable?? can someone confirm this?

 

[kkil4life]

Yup it's def working. It's going to take some trial and error to get the dose right and intervals to reach proper dose but it is exciting that this is working so well. It seems like the amount of reduction in nutrients is going to increase exponentially to the volume of rice used. I'm only using half a cup in a 60 system and aurora is using 1 1/2 cups in a 400 gal system. Very curious to see how this plays out as more people try it.

hhmmm.....and I'm using 1 and 1/2 cups in my 100g system
but so far, nutrient reduction has been most agressive for me, so I guess the right dose would be around 1/2cup for every 50-75g?

 

[icycoral]

I'll see if I can get my hands on a silicate test kit today. But from what I understand silicates only fuel algae growth. With no PO4 or NO3 algae won't have the necessities to grow anyways. Kinda like heat + fuel - oxygen = no fire. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think silicates cause anything to precipitate like phosphates do to calcium

 

[kkil4life]

reading more on rice, it appears silica is only present in the rice HUSK an husk ask, not in the rice itself.

rice composition
http://www.foodcomp.dk/v7/fcdb_details.asp?FoodId=0223

rice comosition in laymans terms
http://www.nutritionanalyser.com/food_composition/?fid=20036

looks like the copper is nothing to really worry about since its between 0.10 and 0.20mg per 100g of rice. and the silica is only in the rice husk and not the rice itself. can someone correct me on this if I'm wrong

 

[spy_spy]

and todays pic

if you notice in the pic theres not much change, but in real the dino has seemed to be fading away and is not so thick as before

VS the first pic...

just notice that the scoly is receding...

kudos for a brave experiment bro.

 

[kkil4life]

Day 5 update

so far everything seems good

1.po4 undetectable
2.no3 close to 2.5ppm (need to check again today)
3.silica 0.25ppm, I'm not sure if this is from the rice or if its from my sand leaching silica, but again I think upto 1.00ppm is quiet acceptable.
4.fish are all good
5.corals are reacting to the rapid decline in nutrients. I'm sure they'll be ok in a day or so.
6.alage has stopped growing and is now starting to recede and die off.

if anything, it seems that I have used a lot of rice, and if anyone else is trying this experiment I think you should start off with maybe 1/4 cup and work your way upto 1/2cup per 50-75gallon of water volume.

 

[kkil4life]

just notice that the scoly is receding...

kudos for a brave experiment bro.

the scoly had been receding before this experiment. at times of day it looks really bad, and at times it looks a little better. the scoly cant be used as a judge for the rice.

 

[kkil4life]

just notice that the scoly is receding...

kudos for a brave experiment bro.

haha....just noticed who you are.
infact this is the same scoly that I thought was an acan at first. since the whole thread of what this piece was, it started receding......

I really hope that regardlesss of whats going on, this scoly does better.

 

[kkil4life]

ok quick update

I've cleaned a bit of the glass, cleaned some algae of 1-2 rocks, basically algae that was breaking loose, I've also cleaned some cyno off the sand

figured that my scoly was getting too much flow, so moved him a bit as well


skimmer still going strong, its not going nuts, but its still pretty smelly and pulling out a lot of gunk

 

[Just2Many]

Looks like the rice is doing some good.

 

[DJREEF]

after reading advanced aquarist, it appears that silica is found both in food that we feed our fish and in KALK......since I use KALK in large quantities (top off), this could also be a reason for mu 0.25ppm of silica. I think upto 1ppm silica is acceptable?? can someone confirm this?

Start growing sponges. That'll knock your silica levels down.

Always remember. Biological problem = Biological solution

DJ

 

[Du]

It is very interesting. i cross my fingers for yours success, kkil4life & others

 

[thebanker]

Start growing sponges. That'll knock your silica levels down.

Always remember. Biological problem = Biological solution

DJ

Chances are, he may have some sponges already that came with LR. They are some of the neatest and most oddly shaped and colored hitchhikers I've found on my LR.


So it sounds like the rice thing is working so far. What is the integrity of the rice grains? Have they turned to mush yet, or are they mostly whole?

 

[Just2Many]

Start growing sponges. That'll knock your silica levels down.

Always remember. Biological problem = Biological solution

DJ

Not to get off subject but sponges? Really?

 

[DJREEF]

Sponges produce spicules, which are composed of of silica which is pulled from the bulk water. They use the spicules as a kind of internal skeletal structure, a lattice for lack of a better term with which to hang new tissue upon. Once the spicule is produced it becomes inert, like silica sand and leaves the soluble solution permanently.

DJ

 

[bertoni]

Some sponges use silica; others use calcium carbonate. A number of people dose silica to keep their sponges happy. I did that for a few years.

 

[crazylegs]

what is the integrity of the rice grains? Have they turned to mush yet, or are they mostly whole?

+1

 

[elijaher]

Once algea starte dieing off it will release junk back into the water.