RO Carbon filter on Tank? Bad idea or genius?

[Skyfish]

Is there a reason people don't just use RO carbon filters (just the carbon not the RO membrane) on reef tanks instead of granulated carbon?

My thoughts:
1) it could clog given the micron size but honestly some people only run carbon once a month so that probably doesn't matter.
2) it would clean the water too well, but you could always reduce flow or usage.
3) Maybe other harmful components I don't know about in its construction.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Imo it would clog extremely quickly without the help of a sediment filter. And an rodi sediment filter would also clog quickly in our dirty tank water

 

[xxkenny90xx]

That is a good question though. Keep them coming and welcome to the club!

 

[stanlalee]

I watched one of the BRS facility tour videos and one of their employees did just that with a 20" housing and sediment filter on his return (but don't see why a carbon filter won't work as they act as secondary sediment filters too). Says he changes it about every 3 weeks. 35:50 mark.

 

[TexanCanuck]

It’s a great idea ... if you work at BRS and are never more than a short walk away from a warehouse where you could grab anything you want for free (at least that’s the way I imagine it would be like working there!).

In all seriousness, I’ve actually done this before on a 75g bow front I used for freshwater turtles (you can not imagine what dirty creatures turtles are!). I used twin 10” Big Blue canister filters with 100 micron graduated sediment depth filters. The water looked great, but I had to change the filters every 4 to 5 days ... and those are not filters that can be cleaned and re-used! I can’t remember how much I paid for each filter but I cAn assure you it wasn’t cheap.

I bet the problem would be even worse in a saltwater tank due to algae

So when it comes to mechanical filtration, they are not a practical solution for the hobbyist.

As for the carbon block filters, they are also impractical since they require the aforementioned sediment filter as a pre-requisite to prevent them from fouling in a matter of hours.

In short, while these are definitely cool solutions, from a cost and effort perspective it’s hard to compete with traditional socks/reactor arrangements

 

[Clownfish_Boy]

In my previous setup with a sump I made a carbon reactor out of PVC fittings and pipe, and connected it to the intake of the system pump. I kept a bag of granulated carbon it it - forcing all the water though the carbon.... Worked really well.