Is carbon ash bad for my tank?

[kevindub]

Every time I add activated carbon some black ash always comes out. I rinse a lot but the ash is never all gone. Is this stuff bad for my tank? I notice all my corals and fish are fine but I worry it will build up or do something bad down the road.

 

[rbursek]

I do not know if it is bad but I would change brands of carbon that will rinse clean, look at Bulk Reef Supply carbon choices.

 

[Anonymous]

All carbon is going to produce dust (it's carbon dust, not ash). Sometimes it takes a lot of rinsing, but at some point any carbon, even the stuff that looks like charcoal, rinses clean in my experience.

What's the brand/make you're using? Quality definitely makes a difference in how much rinsing is needed, as rbursek is intimating.

If the dust coats things, then I might have some concern. If not, then no, I'd just try to rinse more. (Try a submersion method, like the way you clean uncooked rice before cooking.)

 

[kevindub]

I use Seachem

 

[Anonymous]

I find that after rinsing the carbon I move the bag around when adding it to the sump and it rubs the carbon together and makes a little more dust. Harmless in my experience.

 

[Anonymous]

There's some suggestion that it might be a contributing factor in HLLE disease (see the fish forum).