All Activated Carbon Users "PLEASE READ"

[wegotjs]

Found the link on reefbuilders and wanted to pass it on .

Carbon possible cause of Head and Line disease.

 

http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/activated-carbon-hlle-smoking-gun-found

[Mohaynow]

Thats a very important read. It seems that the carbon dust was a huge contributor. anyone know a good replacement for carbon?

[steelhead77]

IMO, you should file this under the same category as the rumor of Rubbermaid garbage cans leaching stuff into your water. If this was truly happening, there would be an epidemic of HLLE going around since most of us either use or have used activated carbon at some point. There's probably a million things that should cause more concern than this.

[Mitchell]

IMO' date=' you should file this under the same category as the rumor of Rubbermaid garbage cans leaching stuff into your water. If this was truly happening, there would be an epidemic of HLLE going around since most of us either use or have used activated carbon at some point. There's probably a million things that should cause more concern than this.[/quote']

 

I agree. I have been running carbon since I started my reef tank and my tang has never shown any problems. I believe HLLE is due to a lack of key nutrients.

 

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[reef165]

It seems as if it is only the dust, so unless all of us that use it dont rinse it, then we probably wouldn't know the effects. I for one rinse very well, way back when, I didn't a couple times and got black tint to the water and such, didn't like it at all! so ever since I rinse mine very well.

[Kshack]

They would have to do another experiment. One with rinsed carbon and one with non-rinsed carbon and see what the results would be. At this point it is just speculation as to what is happening.

[Trautman]

well i certainly agree with the study. i think that it PROVES a relationship between carbon and hlle. even in the discussion it goes over what we are talking about now,"Why the difference in experiences? It may be due to home aquarists often opting to purchase high quality carbon products, while public aquarists, needing huge amounts of carbon, and often purchase bulk commercial brands. It may also be that home aquarists just never suspected that such a commonly used filtration material could be at the root of the HLLE issue". in addition to this, there seems to be a resolute suggestion of how to go about using carbon,"If you do use carbon, rinse it well in reverse osmosis water prior to use, employ a foam fractionator, and do not place the carbon in a high water flow reactor (that might serve to break the carbon granules up into finer particles)".

 

i personally run my carbon in a phosban reactor upstream from my skimmer, and i make sure to rinse it. i have definitely found that the low grade aquarium pharmaceutical carbon is super dusty and soft. so i would probably take three things into mind when using carbon in the future:

1) only use the high quality carbon if you use it

2) always rinse it thoroughly

3) use a protein skimmer, preferably a big one that is rated for high volumes of water, and position it downstream from the carbon

[richmckee]

I would tend to agree with the study. It was peer reviewed and the results seem pretty cause and effect. The effect even tapers off when they used a less dusty carbon.

 

From the study:

 

"When these results were informally presented to home aquarists, some would mention their own cases that confirmed the relationship between carbon and HLLE, but other aquarists would steadfastly argue against the conclusions. Some of these home aquarists have used carbon filtration products for years with no problem. Public aquarists as a whole are much more familiar with the cause and effect of carbon and HLLE.

 

Why the difference in experiences? It may be due to home aquarists often opting to purchase high quality carbon products, while public aquarists, needing huge amounts of carbon, and often purchase bulk commercial brands. It may also be that home aquarists just never suspected that such a commonly used filtration material could be at the root of the HLLE issue. "

 

 

Oops, the post above mine didn't load before I responded

 

Maybe the carbon is locking up a key nutrient in their diet, who knows....but it seems to be doing something bad.

[ThePremiumAquarium]

The article is a good read. It simply means that you should be doing exactly what most of us have been doing for years. Keep in mind the benefits of carbon. It sure seems that those benefits outway the downsides which can likely be taken out of the picture if you practice the below listed suggestions:

 

A. Use high quality carbon

B. Rinse that carbon well before use.

C. Run carbon when you feel it may be of most need. Ex) water is cloudier than normal, you have had a coral die, or you feel you have some concern there is some kind of contaminant in your tank.

[Derbird]

The article is a good read. It simply means that you should be doing exactly what most of us have been doing for years. Keep in mind the benefits of carbon. It sure seems that those benefits outway the downsides which can likely be taken out of the picture if you practice the below listed suggestions:

 

A. Use high quality carbon

B. Rinse that carbon well before use.

C. Run carbon when you feel it may be of most need. Ex) water is cloudier than normal, you have had a coral die, or you feel you have some concern there is some kind of contaminant in your tank.

 

So I'm a bit confused with this, are you not to run the carbon reactor constantly? I have a BRS double reactor for GFO and carbon. I just let it run all the time. I do rinse it really well after changing the media and run the return pipe through my filter sock just in case. Sould I not be letting it run all the time?

 

Thanks for any imput.

[OwenReefin]

You can run it 24/7 and be just fine. I think rinsing your carbon very well is probably your best bet in that list. Opinion of course.

[aquaman30k]

Interesting read. Imo I think carbon is just fine and with the common "safety" practices most of us use there should be no call for alarm.

 

Just think, how many of us have refrigerators with built in water filters that we drink from daily or what is usually the second or third filter in a ro unit? A carbon block or 2! Just showing that out there.

 

Just get the best carbon with the most surface area and you should be fine.

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[ThePremiumAquarium]

So I'm a bit confused with this, are you not to run the carbon reactor constantly? I have a BRS double reactor for GFO and carbon. I just let it run all the time. I do rinse it really well after changing the media and run the return pipe through my filter sock just in case. Sould I not be letting it run all the time?

 

Thanks for any imput.

 

 

You definitely can run carbon continuously if you choose to do so. I have done it many times in the past and stand by it as a safe, useful method for contaminant reduction and water clarifyer. I curretly run it when I feel it may be of benefit the most. I don't use it just to use it though there is no really important reasoning behind this. It just makes my maintenance life a bit easier and I don't have to worry about forgeting about leaving old carbon sitting in reactors or socks

[Kasasah]

I beleave from research cause I have no experience with head and lateral line disease that it is lack of seaweed in the diet. I hear ulva is very good.

[jawfish]

I have been running carbon and GFO continuously for the past 2 years. When I upgraded to my 125 gallon, I switched to a BRS double reactor. I always rinse both the GFO and carbon and do not run a skimmer- ever. I have never had a problem HLLE, but I also don't have extremely sensitive fish species either.