Carbon?

[skriz]

I was looking to order a bag of carbon. You claim that your's is way better than the stuff available in the hobby. So, how much do you reccomend using and how long before it is exhausted?

btw, I will be using it on a 750g reef that I run ozone in.

[Snarkys]

Basically this carbons takes what the lignite and bituminous carbons are best at and combines them but without any of the faults. I'd like to point out that when i say it is better you don't have to just take my word on it because it is based off measurable numbers and known facts about carbon.

Bituminous carbon is really common in the hobby. It has a high iodine number(micropores) and surface area but a low molasses number (macropores) which means it has a large amount of tiny micropores and a low count of the larger macropores. The most common aquarium pollutants and color pigments are too large to fit into the smaller pores so the smaller pores are of very little use. The molasses number is really the most important number because it represents the amount of large pores capable of capturing these contaminants.

The Lignite carbon has really high molasses number and a lower iodine number. The down side to the lignite carbon is it is a bit softer, which means that it will be more dusty and requires a bit more rinsing. In my opinion, the lignite carbons is a much better choice between these two because of the pore size . I am personally willing to spend an extra minute rinsing to get a product that is significantly more efficient.

The RoX 0.8 is an extruded peat carbon. This carbon maintains a high iodine number, molasses number and surface area at the same time, It is also harder than either of the other carbons which means it will be less dusty and not as much will break off in the water do to water abrasion . It takes the advantages of both the other carbons and combines them without any of the disadvantages. The reason you don't see this type of carbon more commonly available to our market is because it costs 3-5 times as much wholesale .

you may find this article very interesting . id start by looking at the chart on the bottom.
http://www.pets-warehouse.com/carbon.htm

[Snarkys]

as to how much to use and how often to change it ... If i gave you a number it would really be meaningless because it wouldn't really be based off how many pollutants are in your tank or the method on which you choose to use carbon. For example someone who feeds his tank a fist full of flake every day is going to require a drastically different amount of carbon to keep his water clear than someone who feeds so mysis every other day. someone who uses a filter sock rather than a flow through chamber is also going to need a ton more.

I cant find the article right now but it suggested that people use paint chips. go to the store and get the lightest yellow paint you can find . Take a piece of white plastic and paint half of it yellow. find a safe place to sick it in your tank , once the color of the water has yellowed a bit from pollutants you wont be able to see the difference between the white and yellow on the plastic and you will know it is time to change your carbon. This allows you to catch it far before your eye would normally see the yellowing of the water and is based off something real that is happening in your tank rather than just some arbitrary figure i could throw at you like one cup per 100 gallons.

BTW I forget what type of paint the article said was reef safe but I'm sure someone in the chemistry forum could tell you : )