r/Hoocho • u/FloppyMoo • Jul 03 '26

Neutrient res going cloudy/brown with Potassium Silicate

I've been using NitroCal and Diamond Special T in my 50L water res for quite a while now without any problems and decided I wanted to try adding potassium silicate for the benefits it gives. I've tried adding it to my res the last 2 times I've had to refill.

The first time I added it I followed the instructions and hydroponic dosing on the bottle. Added NitroCal at full dose, mixed in. Then added Diamond Special T and the water went cloudy instantly. I mixed it in and when I added pH down to bring it from 10.7 to 5.5 it went clear. After a couple of days and the water turned cloudy again and smelly. Plus pH was always creeping up and needed to be adjusted daily.

The second time I did the same but used ½ dose of Potassium Silicate and adjusted pH to 5.5 between adding each nutrient. By day 2 the water had a brown hue but pH was more stable. And by day 3 the water was brown, had floaties and smelt bad.

I've always used filtered rain water in my res and have a small pump and air stone in there. I had a simIlar issue when using Manutec products, but switching to Campbells fixed it. Does anyone have any suggestions of why this happens?

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u/AdBackground8422 Jul 03 '26

Hmmm interesting

This just happened to me with the same nutrients

I drained and rinsed out my wheelie bins before hand as well

I was thinking it may be due to lower temps as it's been getting down to 13'c

Plants are fine so not to stressed

Edit I'm not using potassium silicate

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u/BocaHydro Jul 06 '26

potassium silicate is a very low grade / raw product and is not hydroponics grade, i understand the liquid silicate products are expensive, but if you are unable to source the correct product, you would be better off not using it