Carbon

joshbbert · Jul 8, 2015

I don't run it so picked up a reactor and 250ml of carbon today. I'm just wondering what I need to know before I dive into this. I know it needs a nice slow tumble but that's about it. Thanks for any input folks

hybridazn · Jul 8, 2015

You do NOT want carbon to tumble. You need to put it in the reactor between the sponges and not a whole lot of flow. Carbon dust has been known to cause problems for certain fish and corals.

mattvisocky2003 · Jul 8, 2015

As extra info, GFO is what you want the low tumble on.

Downbeach · Jul 8, 2015

I used to run my GAC reactor in reverse flow to keep the carbon from moving, an extra sponge can help too.

joshbbert · Jul 8, 2015

Thank you glad I asked lol!

volivier · Jul 9, 2015

What's best way to run carbon, sock or reactor

Andylew · Jul 9, 2015

I kept a marine tank years ago and had rowaphos and carbon in filter socks, I now run a reactor for both and there's an amazing difference with the reactor! Def worth setting one up!

Downbeach · Jul 9, 2015

Reactor, hands down.

scardall · Jul 9, 2015

can I run carbon and Rowa Phos together? in my Vertex reactor?

Andylew · Jul 9, 2015

scardall said:
can I run carbon and Rowa Phos together? in my Vertex reactor?

Yes I do very successfully! You can buy mixes of phosphate and doc removers anyways so there's nothing to suggest you can't! I flush a litre of rev osm water through very slowly before attaching to the tank! Hope this helps!

joshbbert · Jul 9, 2015

Do I not want the carbon moving at all? I used seachem matrix carbon its all sitting well below the top sponge just kinda gently swirling around. I ran it in a bucket for a few hours as well to try and clear out dust so far it seems crystal clear. Thanks guys

scardall · Jul 9, 2015

Andylew said:
Yes I do very successfully! You can buy mixes of phosphate and doc removers anyways so there's nothing to suggest you can't! I flush a litre of rev osm water through very slowly before attaching to the tank! Hope this helps!

Is there an order? Carbon than Rowa or vise versa. Ratio's ???? (Slow movement???)

Andylew · Jul 9, 2015

joshbbert said:
Do I not want the carbon moving at all? I used seachem matrix carbon its all sitting well below the top sponge just kinda gently swirling around. I ran it in a bucket for a few hours as well to try and clear out dust so far it seems crystal clear. Thanks guys

I have mine just tumbling ever so slightly, if you look closely you should just see a little flicker of the particles as they move! Make sure they are tumbling on both sides as you want to keep them fluidised, sometimes you can get an uneven flow, I usually fix this by increasing the flow for a few seconds and then decrease again!

Andylew · Jul 9, 2015

scardall said:
Is there an order? Carbon than Rowa or vise versa. Ratio's ???? (Slow movement???)

I would usually add carbon first as the particles are bigger and don't seem to block the access into the reactor as much, that said I would think that they are pretty evenly mixed after a day or 2! Can't think of any scientific reason why one would come before the other! I havn't had any issues with the way I'm doing it so think I'm on the right lines!

joshbbert · Jul 9, 2015

Tyvm

Andylew · Jul 9, 2015

I usually add 50/50 of both I have a 34 gal tank, I add 50 gram of both, all depends on the sort of tank you run, I run low nutrient, and this ratio keeps my tank tip top for a month!

Downbeach · Jul 9, 2015

scardall said:
can I run carbon and Rowa Phos together? in my Vertex reactor?

You'll need enough of the carbon to keep the GFO from clumping, so I would do a ratio of about 2-3 part GAC (carbon) to 1 part of GFO(Rowa phos), and run it in reverse, or slow enough that there is no tumble at all, otherwise the GFO will grind the GAC into dust, and that has been shown to be a cause of HLLE.

Gamma · Jul 10, 2015

I have a 55g display with 20 gallon sump...would I benefit from a carbon reactor on such a small tank?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 10, 2015

Gamma said:
I have a 55g display with 20 gallon sump...would I benefit from a carbon reactor on such a small tank?

As opposed to GAC in some other way, or not at all?

GAC makes the water substantially less yellow and can potentially bind certain toxins that might accumulate in the water.