Activated Carbon Questions

ianryd · Apr 1, 2020

I made a carbon reactor for my nem tank. it's made from a small gatorade bottle with holes drilled in the bottom, carbon packed inside, and a 50gph pump attached to the lid, running water through bottle. Filter floss on both ends to keep carbon particles from getting out. It sits in the first sump chamber after my filter cup. I plan to run it one week a month to combat coral warfare, as I have several different color morphs of RBTA in a 20 gallon tank with a 10 gallon sump and have a few questions.

1 . Is 1 week a month enough?
2. When I stop running it, should I leave the reactor in the sump or remove it?
3. Can I re-use carbon that has been run for a week? If so How many times?

Ding2daDong · Apr 1, 2020

I think if you're worried about coral warfare I would continuously run some carbon. Carbon is absorbed very quickly and becomes saturated. There is a very good BRS video on it as they put dyes into the water and see how quickly the carbon becomes fully saturated and it's pretty dang quick. Also depends on the quality of the carbon. I think running it one week a month is better than nothing though. You could just leave the reactor in the sump, I don't necessarily see a negative except when you do go to use it it will be more dirty. I don't think you can re-use carbon. I would change it out.

mtraylor · Apr 1, 2020

I would run it 24/7. Warfare is not going to stop 3 weeks out of the month. Also will keep water chem mor stable.

ianryd · Apr 1, 2020

So if I run it constant, how often should I change it? Should I worry about it stripping other benificial elements?

HB AL · Apr 1, 2020

I have 2 bags in my sump 24/7, changing them every month. No effects on the fish or corals and there’s a lot of fish and corals.

mtraylor · Apr 2, 2020

I run carbon in reactor 24/7 and change 1 month.

homer1475 · Apr 2, 2020

I run 24/7 in a reactor, and change it every other week. 9 Tbs in an 85G system.

It really does get saturated pretty quick, and after 2 weeks the biofilm thats built up in it slows flow to almost 0.

Dan_P · Apr 2, 2020

ianryd said:
I made a carbon reactor for my nem tank. it's made from a small gatorade bottle with holes drilled in the bottom, carbon packed inside, and a 50gph pump attached to the lid, running water through bottle. Filter floss on both ends to keep carbon particles from getting out. It sits in the first sump chamber after my filter cup. I plan to run it one week a month to combat coral warfare, as I have several different color morphs of RBTA in a 20 gallon tank with a 10 gallon sump and have a few questions.

1 . Is 1 week a month enough?
2. When I stop running it, should I leave the reactor in the sump or remove it?
3. Can I re-use carbon that has been run for a week? If so How many times?

I also suggest running continually.

If you are concerned about cost, buy less expensive GAC and change it more often. Don’t reuse it. Who knows what kind of bacteria are growing on it when you stop using it. The recommended time of use of one month is based on little scientific data. GAC has a surprisingly large capacity. Since we have no way to measure when it is used up and it is cheap, changing it once a month is fine. If you wait six weeks or two months that should be fine also.

RudyvandenBerg · Apr 2, 2020

ianryd said:
So if I run it constant, how often should I change it? Should I worry about it stripping other benificial elements?

I use this stuff and change it out (around 50g a time) every 6-8 weeks and it works brilliantly.

Here's a quick shot of my reef just now after 5 weeks already and its still crystal clear. Can see through my water all the way to my back garden wall as if there's no water. Carbon does really make a huge difference.

chris k. · Apr 2, 2020

I dont think rbta do warfare against each other. I think the only anemone that does not play well with others is the ritteri. I could be wrong, but seems like not the right reason to run carbon.

homer1475 · Apr 2, 2020

I always lol when I see Red Sea and their awesome marketing dept. with that "reef Spec" moniker.

What exactly is "Reef Spec"? For me anything that goes into my reef is "reef Spec". Total marketing hype.

RudyvandenBerg · Apr 2, 2020

Indeed... I think anyone who buys ANYTHING based on how fancy the label is or the promises they make on the front needs to watch the Matrix... ;Wacky

But i tried the cheaper stuff and also lots of stuff in between including different granular size etc and this one works well for me. Marketing aside knowledge is nothing without mileage and imo, I have put some miles on this product and I think it pretty good. It works out to around R30 ($1.50) per 50g dose every 8 weeks so pretty affordable for the return received.

homer1475 · Apr 2, 2020

RudyvandenBerg said:
Indeed... I think anyone who buys ANYTHING based on how fancy the label is or the promises they make on the front needs to watch the Matrix... ;Wacky

But i tried the cheaper stuff and also lots of stuff in between including different granular size etc and this one works well for me. Marketing aside knowledge is nothing without mileage and imo, I have put some miles on this product and I think it pretty good. It works out to around R30 ($1.50) per 50g dose every 8 weeks so pretty affordable for the return received.

Interesting....I have used BRS ROX 0.8 carbon for years now(I like how its larger particles, and very very clean). Never figured out the breakdown, and just did. WOW are my eyes more open now. It's costing me 5.16$ to fill my reactor every other week. Might have to have a look into Red Sea carbon.

Have you used BRS's ROX 0.8 at all? And if you have how does it compare to Red Sea's?

RudyvandenBerg · Apr 2, 2020

homer1475 said:
Interesting....I have used BRS ROX 0.8 carbon for years now(I like how its larger particles, and very very clean). Never figured out the breakdown, and just did. WOW are my eyes more open now. It's costing me 5.16$ to fill my reactor every other week. Might have to have a look into Red Sea carbon.

Have you used BRS's ROX 0.8 at all? And if you have how does it compare to Red Sea's?

Unfortunately H, here is sunny old South Africa we do not have access to BRS products and as far as I know they do not ship this side so I have not had experience with it, but not for lack of wanting to try the product.

Here's the carbon granular size I like to use:

homer1475 · Apr 2, 2020

RudyvandenBerg said:
Unfortunately H, here is sunny old South Africa we do not have access to BRS products and as far as I know they do not ship this side so I have not had experience with it, but not for lack of wanting to try the product.

Here's the carbon granular size I like to use:

That the Red Sea carbon? The BRS stuff is more pelleted and very uniformly shaped. Doesn't look bad though. Curious does it have a lot of "fines" in it? Does it take quite a bit to rinse the fines out? The BRS carbon literally takes about a cup full of water to rinse out 8Tbsp(the amount I use in my reactor).

RudyvandenBerg · Apr 2, 2020

Yu

homer1475 said:
That the Red Sea carbon? The BRS stuff is more pelleted and very uniformly shaped. Doesn't look bad though. Curious does it have a lot of "fines" in it? Does it take quite a bit to rinse the fines out? The BRS carbon literally takes about a cup full of water to rinse out 8Tbsp(the amount I use in my reactor).

Yup that's the Red Sea carbon and it is very clean. I add my 50g in the bag and then a quick shake in some water and it has very little dust to remove. Unless its the last 50g in the container I would add my bag to the sump (which I add right at my return into the DT - I have an overhead sump so big flow over carbon right at the return) without rinsing if I had to and not be concerned about particles in the DT.