Will Bitominous Carbon Straight from the Manufacture Work?

[RussC]

I have access to Bitominous Carbon, literally straight off the manufacturer's floor. That's what I buy by the pound and use regularly in my aquarium. So my first reaction was WOW! But after speaking to the manufacturer, I have several questions.

Randy, I was hoping you might offer some input on this one!

According to the manufacturer, they make a couple dozen bitominous carbons, all for different applications. He seem to be of the opinion that aquarium carbons are generally low density, large mesh carbons. What does "large mesh" mean? He talked about the size becoming important since the spaces between the particles can become laden with solids from the tank and create too much pressure drop for the pump to overcome. Most of the products they manufacturer are a 12x40 mesh. Any idea what mesh size a common aquarium carbon is? He felt as though this might become too densely packed to perform adequately for what I'm looking for in an aquarium. His other point had to do with PH. He said their carbons will give a PH spike when first introduced to water, reaching PH levels of 11 (alkalinity). Does aquarium carbon have any affect on that when initially introduced to an aquarium?

He suggested that aquarium carbons are likely treated (preached, acid rinsed, etc) to eliminate this characteristic and an important consideration for my particular application. Does anyone know if this is the case? What is the process for aquarium carbon from manufacturer to store?

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

i am not a chemist but BRS sells mesh size 6x10, i never used carbon so lets see what others have to say.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I do prefer acid washed carbon. It sounds like none of theirs are?

My favorite carbon is ROX 0.8.

The important attributes of carbon are the effective surface area (there are lots of different tests, like molassas number, iodine number, etc.), surface treatments and washing, and particle size.

 

[RussC]

So are the carbons we see sold on the retail market all acid washed? What is the acid removing from the carbon to make it work in the aquarium?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So are the carbons we see sold on the retail market all acid washed? What is the acid removing from the carbon to make it work in the aquarium?

No. Ones like Marineland Black Diamond are not, I believe.

Acid washing removes fines and modifies the structure and removes impurities:

Effect Of Nitric Acid Treatment On Activated Carbon
Derived From Oil Palm Shell
https://aip.scitation.org/doi/pdf/10.1063/1.4978202

"The result shows that activated carbon after treating with nitric acid proved an increasing porous characteristics involving surface area, pore volume and pore size distribution. It also could remove the contaminants including metals and exhibit an increasing of pores and crevices all over the surface."

Here's a copy of an old post of mine:

There is some concern that some types of GAC (granular activated carbon) may contribute to HLLE (lateral line disease). Acid washed types supposedly are better in this regard. I switched away from Marineland Black Diamond to ROX carbon, and made one other change (stopped using ozone), and my current yellow tang does not have the issuesa previous yellow tang did. I don't know for sure if GAC was responsible or not.
But there are significant benefits to using GAC to reduce organics, so i think it is a net positive, especially using something like ROX.

FWIW, I use both ROX GAC and BRS regular GFO in separate BRS reactors

 

[Cory]

In my field of work, some sands in the oil and gas are called 100 mesh. The mesh size is basically a screen (or mesh) that lets only a certain size of sand through. So large mesh just means gravel size carbon. Or carbon thats bigger than sand. The typical carbon we use is probably 2 mesh as a guess.