Question on carbon:

[jmats]

Does anyone know which specific isotope is used for aquariums?


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[jmats]

Does anyone know which specific isotope (or at least a majority) is used for aquariums?


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[HUKIT]

If I recall there are 3 isotopes of carbon 12, 13, and 14 but I don't have a clue to which one it is? Why are you asking?

 

[Bichir Bro]

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[Delapool]

Does anyone know which specific isotope is used for aquariums?


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Or do you mean different type or source of carbon?

Interested in where the question is coming from? It sounds intriguing.

 

[jmats]

Well, I am really just wondering exactly what type of carbon we are putting into our tanks.

12carbon is the most common form, with 13C being followed. However, 14C is extremely bad for the environment.

When a company puts out carbon for filtration, it quickly gets labeled as either good quality or bad quality.

How do they differentiate between different types of carbon? Is it the ratio of carbon isotopes that are the determinant factor? Or are they adding other chemicals into the carbon?


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[coralbandit]

Well, I am really just wondering exactly what type of carbon we are putting into our tanks.

12carbon is the most common form, with 13C being followed. However, 14C is extremely bad for the environment.

When a company puts out carbon for filtration, it quickly gets labeled as either good quality or bad quality.

How do they differentiate between different types of carbon? Is it the ratio of carbon isotopes that are the determinant factor? Or are they adding other chemicals into the carbon?


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I never had a clue of any difference.
Pardon my ignorance on this but maybe this will help?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_carbon

The half life of our common carbons(12,13) are way shorter then I even thought crappy carbon could be when I bad mouth it!

I don't think "we" have much control over C14;
14C is produced by thermal neutrons from cosmic radiation in the upper atmosphere, and is transported down to earth to be absorbed by living biological material. Isotopically, 14C constitutes a negligible part; but, since it is radioactive with a half-life of 5,700 years, it is radiometrically detectable. Since dead tissue doesn't absorb 14C, the amount of 14C is one of the methods used within the field of archeology for radiometric dating of biological material.

Again "no clue" on my part so if this is bunk "excuse me!"

 

[Gillie]

I never had a clue of any difference.
Pardon my ignorance on this but maybe this will help?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_carbon

The half life of our common carbons(12,13) are way shorter then I even thought crappy carbon could be when I bad mouth it!

I don't think "we" have much control over C14;
14C is produced by thermal neutrons from cosmic radiation in the upper atmosphere, and is transported down to earth to be absorbed by living biological material. Isotopically, 14C constitutes a negligible part; but, since it is radioactive with a half-life of 5,700 years, it is radiometrically detectable. Since dead tissue doesn't absorb 14C, the amount of 14C is one of the methods used within the field of archeology for radiometric dating of biological material.

Again "no clue" on my part so if this is bunk "excuse me!"

Sounded pretty good to me lol

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[Brookster123]

Sounded pretty good to me lol

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+1 science tuesday!!!!

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[Fishperson]

I would think it's just the same portion of each isotope as any normal source of carbon.

Wikipedia says that the carbon we use in aquariums is generally charcoal, which can be made industrially by heating wood without the presence of oxygen.

The carbon, which comes from the wood, would therefore be distributed among the 3 isotopes with the same proportions as it is distributed in atmospheric CO2, where plants get carbon from.

That percentage is 99% C12, 1% C13, and a negligible percent of C14.

 

[jmats]

I would think it's just the same portion of each isotope as any normal source of carbon.

Wikipedia says that the carbon we use in aquariums is generally charcoal, which can be made industrially by heating wood without the presence of oxygen.

The carbon, which comes from the wood, would therefore be distributed among the 3 isotopes with the same proportions as it is distributed in atmospheric CO2, where plants get carbon from.

That percentage is 99% C12, 1% C13, and a negligible percent of C14.

Thanks bud


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[Delapool]

I found this link which had the best source as bituminous coal?


http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/filtermedia/a/Activated-Carbon-In-The-Aquarium.htm

I believe the water filter carbon on our fridge is basically made from coconut husk. I had seen elsewhere that different carbon types are better/worse for filtration but not sure how true this is?

Carbon isotope ratios would I assume vary if coal from deposits or from present day wood. Was going to look into coal although I'm not aware of any special health/environmental considerations for this.

 

[jmats]

I found this link which had the best source as bituminous coal?


http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/filtermedia/a/Activated-Carbon-In-The-Aquarium.htm

I believe the water filter carbon on our fridge is basically made from coconut husk. I had seen elsewhere that different carbon types are better/worse for filtration but not sure how true this is?

Carbon isotope ratios would I assume vary if coal from deposits or from present day wood. Was going to look into coal although I'm not aware of any special health/environmental considerations for this.

I wouldn't go with coal because of the environmental risk. 14C is produced from fossil fuels and is detrimental to our atmosphere and our oceans. I can't imagine coal being beneficial for your aquarium.

I never knew the carbon we use came from charcoal, that's pretty cool.







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[Delapool]

I wouldn't go with coal because of the environmental risk. 14C is produced from fossil fuels and is detrimental to our atmosphere and our oceans. I can't imagine coal being beneficial for your aquarium.

I never knew the carbon we use came from charcoal, that's pretty cool.

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I don't know here that coal would be an issue in this regard? However I'm more aware of health/environmental issues being coal dust / sulphur. Perhaps I'm thinking of more along the lines of use in power plants and steel making where it may be handled differently.

Something interesting links below (I thought).


Half Life - The Physics Hypertextbook

About one carbon atom in a trillion (1012) contains a radioactive nucleus with 6 protons and 8 neutrons — carbon 14

Radiocarbon Dating


and if really keen.

Carbon-14 in Coal Deposits

and just for interest I started looking up granites which tend to be a little higher in natural radiation (see section in link below under natural radiation). Yet to find anything that lists a table of isotope content by material though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite

 

[PNWaquarist]

I wouldn't go with coal because of the environmental risk. 14C is produced from fossil fuels and is detrimental to our atmosphere and our oceans.

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Carbon-14 is present everywhere, in minuscule amounts. It's radioactive, but is in such low abundance that it's not a health or environmental issue.


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[jmats]

Carbon-14 is present everywhere, in minuscule amounts. It's radioactive, but is in such low abundance that it's not a health or environmental issue.


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Well, it is a huge environmental issue. But that's a different debate. I was just wondering if anyone knew whether 12C or 13C is better for water. No reason behind it, just curious.


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[Fel]

Isotopes are common throughout nature and most (such as carbon) are harmless or exist in very small quantities.

My personal favorite isotope is deuterium, the fun part about it is it makes deuterium oxide with is just heavy water and there's a small amount of it in all our fish tanks!

I also know carbon 14 is used in a lot of experiments. There was one I read talking about the uptake of co2 through plant roots via co2 enriched water in which after the plants had been grown they ground up the leaves and found the C14 in the plant leaves and stems. Cool stuff

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[Fishperson]

Yeah, isotopes are often used as "marker" atoms to track where those elements go once they are takin into the body. I believe the same thing is done with C14 in glucose to monitor which parts of your brain is active.

 

[Delapool]

Isotopes are common throughout nature and most (such as carbon) are harmless or exist in very small quantities.

My personal favorite isotope is deuterium, the fun part about it is it makes deuterium oxide with is just heavy water and there's a small amount of it in all our fish tanks!

I also know carbon 14 is used in a lot of experiments. There was one I read talking about the uptake of co2 through plant roots via co2 enriched water in which after the plants had been grown they ground up the leaves and found the C14 in the plant leaves and stems. Cool stuff

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That's pretty interesting stuff.

I think (not 100% sure) that it has also been used with glut dosing to see where it ends up in plants.

Unfortunately not aware of any articles that break down ratios or experiment results, etc.

 

[PNWaquarist]

Well, it is a huge environmental issue.

Uh, no it's not. It's not a common industrial pollutant.

I don't know where you're getting this information from, but it's garbage.



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