carbon and phosphates

[tgriffin]

Talked to an old friend of mine today. Used to own a LFS. He told me that when carbon was spent (whether it takes a day or a month) that it will produce phosphates. I'm no chemist but I know several on here have a good grasp on water quality. Help me out. Is this true?

[mysterybox]

all carbon will release some phates, albeit with higher quality carbon like your Rox 0.8, it will be minimal.

[Skriz]

Not all carbons are equal. Also some carbon release a lot of phosphate and some supposedly silicate.

[heathlindner25]

The carbon they sell at persmart/Walmart,any good?

[Islandreef]

Originally Posted by heathlindner25

The carbon they sell at persmart/Walmart,any good?

I do not believe so, check out Bulk Reef Supply. They actually have a video of the different carbons and which ones actually are the best. I am trying there Rox 8 I think it is. So far so good. My water so clear now it is amazing. I went to another forum where the guys with some beautiful sps tanks all have one thing in common, they all run this Rox from BRS and GFO and there tanks are beautiful so why reinvent the wheel.

Just need to AUTO DOSER and I will be all set

[Kirkwood]

I use the BRS Ignite.. What is the life cycle on that?? Like 8 weeks?? I know I'm probably about 4 weeks past that mark now.. I didn't know about spent Carbon releasing phosphates. Maybe that is why my sps isn't looking too happy right now..

[DawgFace]

Really depends on the amount of organics. If heavily contaminated carbon can exhaust it's self after a couple hours. Since I run carbon constantly (not necessary) I change weekly.

[ichthyoid]

Some producers of activated carbon use phosphoric acid to 'wash/rinse' the carbon during production. If that is the case, then significant phosphate may be released.

Otherwise, any release would likely be trace amounts.

The major brands used in reefing do not pose a problem.

[Kirkwood]

not to get off topic, but i have noticed since I started running Carbon that I get carbon dust in my skimmate.. is that anything to be concerned about?? I rinsed all the dust out of the carbon before putting it in the reactor, but I don't see any way to avoid this..

[DawgFace]

Originally Posted by Kirkwood

not to get off topic, but i have noticed since I started running Carbon that I get carbon dust in my skimmate.. is that anything to be concerned about?? I rinsed all the dust out of the carbon before putting it in the reactor, but I don't see any way to avoid this..

Sounds like however your running your carbon it is tumbling causing it to breakdown.

[ichthyoid]

My belief is that if you use carbon change it often. I would not run it more than 10-14 days.

Some run it longer without 'apparent' negative affect, but it's cheap, so why take a chance?

After that it is spent, becomes a bacteria condo, and according to some respected authors, can begin leaching nutrients back into the water.

[tgriffin]

Originally Posted by ichthyoid

My belief is that if you use carbon change it often. I would not run it more than 10-14 days.

Some run it longer without 'apparent' negative affect, but it's cheap, so why take a chance?

After that it is spent, becomes a bacteria condo, and according to some respected authors, can begin leaching nutrients back into the water.

This has to be what was happening to me. I've taken my carbon offline. Hopefully I will see a difference. In all honesty, I never saw a difference in anything while running carbon

[Thanh386]

Cheap my foot. Its like 30 bucks to fill my chamber. Lol. But carbon doesn't release as much as you made think, even the cheap ones from petco. I have ran both high and and cheap ones for prolong periods ( not intentionally) to little or no ill effect. But like the others have mention, running the same carbon for over 2 week is not a good thing.

[mysterybox]

Originally Posted by Kirkwood

I use the BRS Ignite.. What is the life cycle on that?? Like 8 weeks?? I know I'm probably about 4 weeks past that mark now.. I didn't know about spent Carbon releasing phosphates. Maybe that is why my sps isn't looking too happy right now..

7-14 days tops...