activated carbon

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ericosuave

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Dec 8, 2003
Messages
89
Location
Dallas, Tx
how does this stuff work? and will it work to clear up some tiny particles floating all around in my tank?

how do i actually add the activated carbon to my tank? i have a 40 gal hex oceanic with a prizm skimmer.
 
Activated carbon is a chemical filter, it will not remove particulate matter from your tank. To get rid of the tiny particles you need to run some kind of floss filter. This can be a HOB power filter, a canister filter, or even a cartridge that fits onto a powerhead. If you really want to run GAC, the Prizm skimmer has a filtermedia basket that can be purchased to hold the filter media of your choice. Kind of think of it, I've never tried it, but if you get the filter basket you may be able to run some filter floss in that to remove particles. Worth a shot.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/prizm/Class//T1/F35+0462+0355/Itemdy00.aspx
 
I use carbon in my HOB.....I have a 35 gallon wet/dry and the HOB I use just for the carbon. I got floss on the bottom and carbon in a bag on top of it. Works good for me so far.

Mike
 
got another question.. im about to purchase the upgrade kit for the prizm skimmer which includes the surface skimmer and the filtermedia basket. now my question is.. what kind of media should i put in the basket for clearer particle free water? should i get some floss and put the media in one of those little mesh baggies than stick it in the basket? (i would have to buy one of those too).. please let me know..

TIA.
 
ericosuave said:
got another question.. im about to purchase the upgrade kit for the prizm skimmer which includes the surface skimmer and the filtermedia basket. now my question is.. what kind of media should i put in the basket for clearer particle free water? should i get some floss and put the media in one of those little mesh baggies than stick it in the basket? (i would have to buy one of those too).. please let me know..

TIA.

I have that skimmer with attachments, I was told to get a good quality GAC for the media basket, opinion varies as to how much & how often you should change it, I decided on the following "average" of what I could find:

1 heaped tablespoon for each 10gal in a reef tank
2 heaped tablespoon for each 10gal in a fowlr tank

I will pull the media out on the end of month water change (leaving it in on the fortnight one) & leave it out for the first week after, so the GAC will be in for 3 weeks at a time.

This is just me though.......

Cheers Shelton.
 
It's probably not a good idea to put something like floss in there because as it clogs up it will start to put stress on the pump. That's the only reason I didn't use carbon in mine while I had it. Then again my pump still blew up.. go figure lol.
 
Yeah, just get the Deluxe upgrade for it, and use a good brand of GAC. That basket is only designed to hold GAC type media.

I'll say this much too: when I added carbon to my setup, it seemed to help the prizm skim off the cloudiness from poorly rinsed argonite.
maybe it's coincidence, maybe not.
 
For GAC grab a measuring cup that reads ounces, or grab a shot glass, and use 1/2 fl. oz per 5 gallons for a tank with a skimmer, use 1 fl. oz per 5 gallons if you don't have a skimmer. My suggestion once you figure out how much to keep in your tank would be to keep two separate vessels that store the GAC and put 50% of you total amount in each. Then start a rotation on changing it. For example, I run 13 fl. oz of GAC, changed weekly. So I have two media bags, each with 6.5 oz in them. The first bag goes in on sunday with my water change, the second is added on Wednesday. On the next sunday that bag is emptied and replaced with a new 6.5 ounces, then the same with the other on wednesday, so on and so forth. I have found this to be a great way of using carbon. HTH.
 
I only run carbon for one week per month. I was told that it would "strip" some of the trace elements from the water. Don't know for sure, there is conflicting information on the net about this.

Mike
 
I've had luck using the coralife pelletized GAC. Its larger size helps keep it in the Prizm's basket. I've tried other brands of regular carbon but more would end up floating out into the tank. It probably wouldn't hurt to run some poly floss in the basket for an hour or so just to clear up particles, but over the long haul I would use carbon 24/7.
 
If you perform appropriate water changes, i.e. 5% or so a week, there is no way that your ever going to add anything that can strip all the goodies out of your water. Regular, partial water changes keep everything in proper supply save the CA and dKH which still likely need an additive of some sort. I can assure you that running GAC 24/7 partnered with good husbandry will not have any adverse effects, it will be quite the opposite. Good luck!!
 
great advice.. thanks alot guys! i will let you all know what happens with what i get.

jackdp do you know of a good place online to order the coralife GAC pellets? and do i also need to purchase a little bag to put the pellets in? or do i just drop the pellets in the prizm basket?

TIA
 
Every living thing contains Phosphates. Because trees were once alive, the carbon contains Phosphates. It's not a good idea to get cheap when it comes to carbon. Yes, most carbon is coming from most of the same sources but carbon is customised based on application and price level.

It's a good idea to soak your carbon in RO/DI water for a couple of days before adding it to the tank. The RO/DI water will act like a magnet and pull most of the Phosphates out of the carbon. I see people all over the boards saying that GAC absorbs Phosphates and eventually re-releases them. This is not true. The Phosphates were there from the get-go and the leaching is the worst when the carbon is brand new not after it has been in the tank for a while.

Most carbons for aquaria use are no longer washed in phosphoric acid. However, the more expensive acid washed ones typically contain less Phosphates.

http://www.pets-warehouse.com/carbon.htm
http://www.pets-warehouse.com/carbon_1.htm
http://www.hallman.org/filter/carbon.html
http://www.marineland.com/articles/17RevisActCarb.asp

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