Carbon Expire?

[jcook54]

Does carbon expire? I know it can absorb a lot of different stuff and it's used in air ventilation products so it doesn't just absorb particles from water. My thoughts are that granulated carbon does absorb 'stuff' from the water as well as the air and if left out and exposed to the environment, it would potentially fill up. I'm sure there are better terms but I don't really know them but you get the idea. Once the exposed carbon does "fill up", it's no longer effective because it can't absorb any of the stuff we want it to when we place it in our systems. With that in mind, I believe that carbon can indeed expire.

However, if it's kept in a relatively sealed container, it won't absorb that much and will be good for quite a while. What do you guys think? I guess the next question is - If the carbon has absorbed a bunch of stuff from the atmosphere, is there a danger adding that to our aquarium?

 

[dball711]

I'm not an expert but it its kept in a sealed container I don't think there's a problem.

 

[ichthyoid]

Correct. If sealed from the atmosphere, it can potentially remain active for years.

There is one minor, but important, term to remember (not the be petty here, just accurate) and that is the term ‘adsorbtion’.

It differs in that ‘adsorption’ is a surface phenomenon and ‘absorption’ occurs within the bulk of a substance. A minor difference in spelling, but a major difference in the how the mechanism works. A sponge ‘absorbs’ liquid.

So, activated carbon’s retention of gas, liquid or solid contaminants really happens on it’s huge number of surfaces.

 

[kullas]

As stated above if kept sealed I think it will be ok