Activated carbon brand sugestions?

[sfarid123]

Hey guys,

I'm planning use activated carbon in my Phospan 150.

Are there any good brands/ good deals that you can suggest?

[MusMusculus]

I use Marineland Black Diamond. Someone ran a test (Holmes-Farley?) and it performed well, particularly for its price point. I lost the bookmark for it some time back, but I'll see if I can find the article/thread.

[sfarid123]

Thanks for the reply,

How often do you need to change the media? Is it Ok to continuously run carbon?

Also Is it safe to use it in a mixed reef tank with Softies, a BTA, and
Acroporas?

[reef / aholic]

These are on my short list for carbon!!!

. ROX 0.8
. Warner Marine ReefPure Granular Activated Carbon
. ELOS Carbon M
. TLF Hydrocarbon

[sherm71tank]

Another vote for Black Diamond. It's great carbon/great price.

[Jim_S]

What are the differences? My LFS has Hydor brand carbon and sells med sized boxes for like $4.99. I haven't seen any problems, but would hate to be doing wrong, that I could be doing differently.

Jim

[twon8]

the rox 0,8 is great, very tiny pieces and very little dust. washes clean very quickly. it is pricey but i got a 5 gallon bucket and that should last me for a few years.

[sherm71tank]

Many brands will leach phosphates and some are much worse than others. I've purchased some "bargain brands" and some in bulk that test high in phosphates when you stir some up in ro/di and let it settle and test. It may be a negligible impact overall but if I can reduce it on the front end by not knowingly adding it then I will. I also always thoroughly rinse the carbon in ro/di before use. It may have been just chance but it seemed the pelletized carbons tested higher in phosphates a rule. I find the Black Diamond to leach little if any phosphates and the price is great.

[Jim_S]

Thanks Sherm!


I've never done any testing, so I'll take your word ;)

I'll pick up some black diamond on the next trip.

Jim

[sfarid123]

Thanks for all the great info :)

Last question is which media would my BTA benfit the most? Activated carbon or Phosban or do a combo media in my TLF Phosban 150 ??

Thanks again

[sherm71tank]

No problem Jim. I'm sure it will serve you well.

[sherm71tank]

I'm no anemone expert so I'll defer that one to someone else.

[RBCJay]

I haven't used the Rox, but the bulk lignite that two part sells is the best I have ever used.
Jay

[918ReefCpl]

We've been using Kent Marine Carbon (blue label) and also Black Diamond-Marineland w/o issue inside our OceanClear canister....biggest thing we found is the cheaper you go, the more problems you might have (less adsorbtion capability)...the softer (graphite looking type) seem to work better than say carbon with a shiny appearance...Looking at adding a 2LF Phosban reactor and maybe going 50/50 mix inside the reactor vessel but will try it using Phosban only for awhile to test for results. If we do add carbon to the 2LF-150 reactor, we would add an extra foam piece between the two sections.

[humbugy]

marineland black diamond here

[Tennsquire]

I've always used Seachem Matrix carbon, and have been pleased with it. The couple of times I've had to buy locally from a LFS, I've used Marineland as well as the Fluval brand.

[mg426]

Here too.

[frags75]

I dont use carbon at all on my reef. When I had a FOWLR I used seachem. I know this is a debated topic but I really dont see the need for it on a reef if you have good params and good skimming and keep steady with regular water changes.

[twon8]

i use it because it makes the water clearer.

[MusMusculus]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11413763#post11413763 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MusMusculus
I use Marineland Black Diamond. Someone ran a test (Holmes-Farley?) and it performed well, particularly for its price point. I lost the bookmark for it some time back, but I'll see if I can find the article/thread.

Not the original thread, but here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=7826445#post7826445

Boomer was who I was thinking of.

[sfarid123]

thanks for the great Info,

Would it be Ok to do a 1/2 & 1/2 of both media (carbon/ phosban) seperated by a sponge in the 2LF-150?

[MSU Fan]

You can, but the carbon traditionally is changed much more frequently (weekly?) than the phos media (every 2 months?), so if you change both at the same time, you are wasting phos media and money. But you definitely can do both...

[Jim_S]

Yeah, I agree with MSU fan.

Its best to run 1 carbon, 1 phosban. The carbon will need to be changed sooner than the phosban will.

JMO. On my tank, I run 2 phosban rx's and place the carbon in a bag that sits in my filter sock. Seems to work great IME.