Carbon

[Anonymous]

Long story short:

2 babies + job = not alot of time.

Getting some green algae/cyano growth. Been doing the water changes when I can. Bulbs are rotated regularly.

I have an unused canister filter from a FW aquarium that is no more.

Would packing this thing full of carbon help my situation?
I also do not want to run carbon all the time. Is doing it every once and a while even worth the cost of the carbon?


Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

Personally, I think carbon is a bit dated.

But seriously (try the fish, it's great), I'm not sure carbon would do much for algae growth, as that's a nutrient issue, whereas carbon is best at removing other not-wanted elements (copper etc). You might want to add another powerhead, as cyano growth sometimes points to insufficient circulation. But others might know more.

 

[Anonymous]

My flow has not changed for years. The green nasty growth is new to the last 2-3 months...

Maybe I need a new RO filter? The TDS meter still says I am at 000 TDS on my output, but it is over a year old (as is the carbon, sediment and DI resin).

Could one of them be the culprit?

 

[MartinE]

Could be the RO filters need changed, how does the RO water from your filter test out as far as nitrates and phosphates? You could run carbon and phosphate removal media to help reduce some of the nutrients, if you are not already. Heavy skimming helps as well, again if your not already doing so.

 

[Ben1]

Maybe I need a new RO filter? The TDS meter still says I am at 000 TDS on my output, but it is over a year old (as is the carbon, sediment and DI resin).

Holy cow I wish I could go that long. I need to change my DI resin every month give or take a week. I would see if you could borrow some one locals hand held TDS meter and get a new reading.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure carbon would do much for algae growth, as that's a nutrient issue, whereas carbon is best at removing other not-wanted elements (copper etc). You might want to add another powerhead, as cyano growth sometimes points to insufficient circulation. But others might know more.

Actually, activated carbon is very efficient at removing organic molecules, including organic N and P, which would be broken down into inorganic N and P (the stuff our test kits measure), so it is effectively a way to remove N and P, in a sense, much like a skimmer does.

Also, cyanobacteria seems to thrive in water that has a high organic load and doesn't seem to be limited as much by levels of inorganic N and P. I feel like I've corrected more than a few cyano issues early with no changes other than adding activated carbon.

I wish I could suggest a preferred way to run the carbon. Running it all the time seems simple, but there is the concern that it's removing certain stuff you don't want to remove. OTOH it seems like a pain to remember to turn the canister on and off and drain it in between so it doesn't go anaerobic. Either way, everything I read suggests that passing the water over it slowly is the best way to run it, as it gives a longer contact time.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Matt, I didn't know that.

 

[leftovers]

If your carbon BEFORE The RO isnt changed regularly bad things can happen. I recommend changing the carbon in any system 3-4 times a year depending on water volume as it does get bound and things will then be caught by the RO that should be caught by the carbon, and chlorine and chloramine can prematurely shorten the life of RO membranes.

 

[leftovers]

Maybe I need a new RO filter? The TDS meter still says I am at 000 TDS on my output, but it is over a year old (as is the carbon, sediment and DI resin).

Holy cow I wish I could go that long. I need to change my DI resin every month give or take a week. I would see if you could borrow some one locals hand held TDS meter and get a new reading.

If you are running a RO/DI set up and are changing your DI every month, you may need a new membrane. RO should remove a massive amount of impurities and your POST RO resins should last a very long time - i havent had to change mine in nearly 2 years and im still getting super low reading on TDS.

If you are just DI then yes changing/recharging every 3-4 weeks give or take is not uncommon at all.

 

[Anonymous]

Or, stop wasting all that water and start using the liquid ion-exchange resin from the Mr. Clean Autodry carwash system. I don't measure TDS, but I do measure hardness (GH & KH) and it takes water with a pH of 8-9, you read that right, eight to nine, and pulls it down to between 5 & 6. GH of >10 down to unreadable, KH of 7+ down to unreadable. ZERO WASTE WATER, not a drop.

 

[Anonymous]

Ideally I would stick with a carbon reactor where you can see the granules. If the media is tumbling from fast flow the granules will rub against each other and create fines that are released into the tank. These RO/DI style canisters are pretty awesome for running GFO and GAC. You just mount them to a wall to free up space in your sump. Changing out the media is easy.

The other consideration with carbon is that it may release phosphate into your water. Some cheaper brands release a lot. The "ROX 0.8" carbon sold by BRS is great in this regard, doesn't release any detectable P.

 

[Anonymous]

Just to be clear - the TDS on the RO/DI reads 0. If I pull open the valve so that the water does not go through the DI column, the TDS reads 2-4. Still super low.


What I am thinking of doing is taking an old Fluval (101?) canister filter, packing it full of fresh carbon and running it on the tank for 1-2 weeks before the next water change. That way I can pull out any nasties and dissolved organics, and if I pull out something good, there will be a water change in the near future to replace it.'

It sounds like I will not be just spinning my wheels on this.

 

[Anonymous]

FWIW, that's pretty much the way I used to dose carbon. I used a canister filter, and would run it every other week (filling it every other water change). I'd run the filter one week, change it out when I did the water and set it up for the next time. Easy once I integrated it into a routine. That way I didn't worry about pulling 'too much' out or it getting gacked up and becoming a nitrate factory.

 

[Anonymous]

But did it seem to make any difference?

Tracy, are you doing that currently on your nano, or did you do it on a larger tank?

How much carbon per volume water would be necessary?

 

[Anonymous]

On the nano I am currently using a HOB filter with the bulk carbon Matt mentioned from BRS. I change it weekly. I used the bigger canister on the 75+gallon tanks I used to keep. As far as how much/gallon...really good question LOL. I just filled the filter up and hoped it was enough

 

[Anonymous]

Or, stop wasting all that water and start using the liquid ion-exchange resin from the Mr. Clean Autodry carwash system. I don't measure TDS, but I do measure hardness (GH & KH) and it takes water with a pH of 8-9, you read that right, eight to nine, and pulls it down to between 5 & 6. GH of >10 down to unreadable, KH of 7+ down to unreadable. ZERO WASTE WATER, not a drop.

Are you sure it is a "liquid" IER? Each filter refull is like $5-7 bucks, and how many gallon can you get out of it?

 

[Anonymous]

How much carbon per volume water would be necessary?

I use something like 1L carbon/500L tank.

Depends on the tank, your current TOC level, your goal TOC, and the rate the tank produces. An easy way to gauge this is to see if your water is yellow. If you have a white 5 gallon bucket, fill it with tank water and look at the bottom of the bucket. The water should be clear. Pretty simple test.

 

[Anonymous]

What are your other parameters?

If your pH and Alk are out of whack you can get algae blooms.

Change your RO, add some GFO, adjust parameters as necessary, and do some water changes.

 

[Marinworld]

browncj7

Need some detailed info on your system. Keeping carbon in a system for months on end is a waste of time. The carbon should be replaced on a monthly basis if you really want to take advantage of it's ability to adsorb.
I don't like the use of canister filters in marine systems, because what usually happens is that they are neglected, and left to fillup with gunk. You know, "Out of Site, Out of Mind". One other question. Do you backflush your RO/DI system???????

Most important though is specific details on your system, and the types of equipment your using.

Regards,
Don

 

[Ben1]

If you are running a RO/DI set up and are changing your DI every month, you may need a new membrane. RO should remove a massive amount of impurities and your POST RO resins should last a very long time - i havent had to change mine in nearly 2 years and im still getting super low reading on TDS.

If you are just DI then yes changing/recharging every 3-4 weeks give or take is not uncommon at all.

I use a brand new vertex ro/di which I love. It works great, my tank has been evaporating 4 gals a dayish + 2 x 35 gal w/c per month on my one tank. So we are still talking 190 gal through the DI and I use a bit on my sons tank as well as another use for my RO/DI that is 60 gal a month...so I am running atleast 260 gal minium a month through each cartridge. I don't think there is anything wrong with my membrane and can check that by looking at the output tds before and after the membrane to get my rejection rate and be sure its in line with expected rejecting.

Or, stop wasting all that water and start using the liquid ion-exchange resin from the Mr. Clean Autodry carwash system. I don't measure TDS, but I do measure hardness (GH & KH) and it takes water with a pH of 8-9, you read that right, eight to nine, and pulls it down to between 5 & 6. GH of >10 down to unreadable, KH of 7+ down to unreadable. ZERO WASTE WATER, not a drop.

The unit I use http://www.saltysupply.com/Vertex-Purat ... vt2212.htm has a 1:1 waste to good water, so yeah I waste over 260 gals of water a month....yikes..not the most enviromental thing to do, I also use a high pressure 10 gpm showerhead, but my household pressure is low so I have to.

Anyhow sorry to sidetrack the thread.