pros/cons of carbon

[cgarr017]

i'm interested in carbon but know nothing about it or even how to set it up. any helpful info on pros/cons of running it would be great too

[Boomer]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1371983

http://reefcentral.com/forums/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=9575461&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending

These should fix you up :)

[cgarr017]

good sites, however i am still confused about installation and replacement b/c the sites differ in opinions from one another. one says you should only add a little at a time others don't one says its good for 6 weeks another says its good for 6 months before needing to replace. so can i add it all at once(currently have a bacterial bloom and a tank with cloudy water) probably just throw a bag of it in microbubble removal chamber of my sump and i'm guessing i'll have to remove it pretty soon because prob have a lot of organics needing to be removed with my current coludy water....

[cgarr017]

another question-browsing the forums i have read a few posts saying people have gotten their carbon from http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Bulk-Carbon/c6/p427/1.25Pounds-Activated-Lignite-Carbon/product_info.html
and they say their product hsa the following stats:
Molasses Decolorizing efficiency 85 MIN
Dust% 0.40 Max
Iodine Number 625
Surface Area M2/g 650
Total pore Volume mL/g 0.95
Washed with Hydrochloric Acid
Food Chemical Codex Passes

in one of the carbon articles it says you should get carbon with iodine lvls below 600, molasses lvls above 400 and no chemical activation or washing. the "washed with hydrochloric acid" kinda scares me a little. what do you think

[Boomer]

and they say their product hsa the following stats:
Molasses Decolorizing efficiency 85 MIN
Dust% 0.40 Max
Iodine Number 625
Surface Area M2/g 650
Total pore Volume mL/g 0.95
Washed with Hydrochloric Acid
Food Chemical Codex Passes

This is a excellent carbon and is mad of Lignite

the "washed with hydrochloric acid" kinda scares me a little. what do you think

You want this, all the HCl has been removed. This is called a "acid washed" carbon and they are the best.

the sites differ in opinions from one another.

That is true and I have been playing with it for like 40 years :D So, this is what you can/should do.

Use 1 tbls / 1-5 gal of water. Once a week take out the carbon and rinse it well under tap water, then a quick dip in RO/DI water. Have it in a mess bag when you rinse it and tumble and squeeze it with with you hands as you rinse it. This does two things: 1) Rinses out allot of the trapped material that is plugging the surface pores. 2). Opens up new surface areas to make it last longer. Then change it out in 1 month. With your tank now with this bloom in 2 weeks.

Yes you can add it all at once but I would start out with 1 tbls / 5 gal first and then increase it, especially if you use the carbon posted and are not using carbon now. At times some animals like corals can be over stressed if the load is reduced to quickly. If it is a fish tank then it is not an issue.


the sites differ in opinions from one another.

You can but passive use is not all that good. You are better off with a canister filter like a Ehiem .

[cgarr017]

so do you believe that carbon is overall better than say purigen and why

[Boomer]

Overall better yes but the two compliment each other nicely. Eiether is a good choice.