Detail Lesson

[jcook54]

I've got some item left over from my freshwater days and I figured I could use some of them in my reef tank. One item is a plastic insert full of carbon that fits over the updraft tube on an undergravel filter. I've got 20 of these things and they fit perfectly in the media section of my sump. Last night I figured I'd throw 2 of them in because I needed to change out my carbon anyways. I opened the pack, rinsed and put them in the media holder right before dinner.

The next time I looked at my tank everything had shriveled and drawn in on itself. This includes ricordia, mushrooms, polyps, majano's and apatasia's. I couldn't figure out what the heck was wrong. The fish were fine and active. The only thing I did was add some carbon! Can carbon go bad? Could it somehow absorb some toxic stuff from the atmosphere? It's been sitting around for years but it was still in it's original pack. Then it dawned on me, I had rinsed them in a hurry with tap water and put them directly into my sump. So, I pulled the carbon inserts, added some Prime and added new carbon rinsed in RODI water. By the time the lights went off everything looked like it was coming around. I just have two questions. One, can carbon go bad after years of sitting around? Second, do ya'll think my end conclusion of chlorine was the right diagnosis? Thanks for any help and advice!

 

[jcook54]

Thank goodness everything is looking good. It was just one of those things where I wasn't thinking through the entire process. I have an RODI unit but I just grabbed and rinsed. It would have taken 60 seconds to rise with RODI water but I didn't and it nearly cost me. I think I'll throw the rest of those things out just to be on the safe side.

 

[linda lee]

Curious about the rinsing of carbon. When I rinse mine, it takes a loooooooooong time as the rinse water is black and dusty for quite awhile. If I use RO, it seems like I'd go through several gallons.

How exactly are ya'll rinsing with RO?

Or maybe I'm not using the right kind of carbon. What are ya'll using?

Thanks.

 

[jcook54]

When I rinse it I don't get it 100% clear. My first canister filter was a Rena xP and the instructions said to rinse it but that it didn't have to be totally clear. I've never had a problem. Right now I'm using Marineland Carbon and it seems to work pretty well. There's so much stuff out there and I'm sure some carbon is better but the Marineland is cheap and it seems a little "cleaner" than the carbon that comes in the milk carton containers (API brand?). Anyone else use a different carbon that is signifigantly better?

 

[acroholic]

You should always rinse carbon to remove the dist and fines. If you didn't rinse enough, you probably put a coat of carbon dust on your livestock, hence the shriveling.

I doubt it makes any difference to rinse GAC in RO vs tap water. I use a reactor for carbon, rinse in tap, then just drain the container and put it in service.

I use GAC in my setup because I have some softies and zoas in with my SPS, and some of their secretions are not supposed to be the best for SPS. I don't know if this is fact based or just heresay.
Dave

 

[twocute2b4u]

I rinse all of my stuff with tap water as well. I don't think it is the water, I would think that it has something to do with not rinsing it well enough.