Carbon

[Garry thomas]

Using larger than normal amounts of carbon, will this strip trace elements from the water?????????? :unsure:

[oceanaquatics/neil]

whats the reason behind the large amounts of carbon being used garry?

as posted 2 weeks ago by 17000 ltr i had a fire in my house lost about a £1000 worth of fish so i ran 5 ltrs over a week to remove any toxins then did 5 x 60 gal water changes over the next week just incase the carbon had removed most of the elements the huge amount of sps require ( they all survived by the way) so i would say yes the carbon would remove trace elements but as long as you do a good water change afterwoods i wouldnt worry to much about it


hth neil :thumbsup:

aka neils 2500 ltr

[Darryl]

With carbon, it's probably how long you run it for, or the type off carbon you use that posses the biggest questions. It would appear from reading that it does deplete trace elements! But has Neil rightly states quality water changes can offset this.( has you know).Why the use off "larger amounts of carbon" Gary ?

[Garry thomas]

i like the look of crystal clear water. And now i am not running an ozoniser this is how i am doing it. At the moment if i run it all the time, i will remove and do some water changes when the first corals go in. i am running 1800 ml's of it. Sorry i cant give you a weight as there is nothing other than what i have quoted.

[Gubs]

This is an interesting quetion Garry which I asked a while back but could not get an answer.

After some research, it would appear that the trace elements that are removed by carbon depends on whether the trace elements are chemically combined to the saltwater solution, or whether they are freely floating through the water.

If the latter, it is possible that they are absorbed by carbon. If the former, it is much less likely as no chemical reaction occurs within carbon to chemically alter the structure of the salt crystal to extract the trace element.

An example of this is magnesium. Magnesium is important in the structure of salt crystals and in making calcium available to corals. However, no amount of carbon will ever remove the magnesium. However, if you added say multivitamins or oil to your tank which essentially float around, these would prob be removed by carbon.

I would be very interested to have further details on this. Please feel free to tell me where I am wrong, I am no chemist.

G

[Garry thomas]

Thanks for that G but i seem to think that is the case as well. I add iodine daily, but this is probally removed by the carbon

[simon garratt]

I think its more likely the case that Skimming is removing the iodine.

FWIW i run carbon 24/7 but only a small amount in two bags which i change 1/rinse1 every 14days.


Regards

Si.

[elliot]

Simon,

Sorry ... do you mean you rinse one of the two bags every 14 days? I thought you changed it every 5 :huh: ?

Sorry to be a pain... but I was trying to emulate yourself/ Simon/ Andy with regards carbon (well all aspects lol ! :) )

Thanks

elliot

[simon garratt]

Woops sorry Ell :blush: .

Dont know what i was thinking then. Yep your quite correct. generally i rinse both every weekend. (microwave every 2nd weekend and change one bag).

As with all things it does depend on what time ive got available.


As usuall, we all chop and change a little for experimentation as long as the ultimate aim stays the same...... ;)


regards

Si.

[SPS Hoover]

Hi Elliott

elliotÂ* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Posted on Oct 5 2004, 16:14

Sorry to be a pain... but I was trying to emulate yourself/ Simon/ Andy with regards carbon (well all aspects lol !Â* )

You don't want to emulate me I'm a only an Advanced Member should be other way around you being an executive member :lol: :lol:

I run carbon 24/7 and change every month which is kg at a time approx

Regards

Simon

[TRAMLINE]

So which of you two Simon has got it right then!!! :D :D :D :D

[SPS Hoover]

Definately Mr G he's got all the big words and the long answers

I'm a reef numpty :blink: ;)

[elliot]

Simon...

If it means going backwards to get to being a reef numpty... then thats fine with me :) (So long as I can get my tank like yours!!)

Wow a kg at a time!!! Is this fluidised? How do you avoid it becoming covered in bio-gunk and ceasing to be effective? Or is it a quantity thing?

Thanks

elliot

[popsock]

Garry, do you have a Iodine test kit, such as the Salifert one? Not sure how accurate it is, but appears to do a good job. I run carbon 24/7/365 and it doesn't seem to affect the iodine level, although it might be replenished by monthly water changes. Truth is I don't think anyone knows for sure.

Also, you could try one of those eco-aqualisers which are probably cheap as chips in the states. They have a 180 day no-quibble money back guarantee, so there's no harm in trying it - if water clarity is your aim.

Good luck mate. Andy.

[simon garratt]

Also, you could try one of those eco-aqualisers


And while your at it . Why dont you get the local indians to chant round a wigwam built in your livingroom, to request water clarity from the montain god........




ROTFLMAO


Si. :)

[popsock]

:zzzZZZ:

[sowerby reef]

And while your at it . Why dont you get the local indians to chant round a wigwam built in your livingroom, to request water clarity from the montain god........

Wow. Just tried it and it worked a treat. :whistling:

Kev

[simon garratt]

:D


Si.