Any feedback from AQUACHAR users?

[erk]

from what i understand, aquachar is wood preserved in its original structure not compressed from dust like most activated carbons. It is also not activated with acid which would weaken its structure - acts more like graphene than charcoal. read only good things from hobbyist running it in tumblers and reactors

I honestly don't know where to begin. This sounds like sales person speak to try and confuse and thus scam a potential victim.

Both are made of charred wood, how is it that this stuff is spiraled graphene but activated carbon is just "dust"? They are both made of the same stuff. The difference is this stuff hasn't been cleaned out, aka activated, so all the useful pores are filled with dust. As far as compressed, the act of compressing it actually hardens the surface and reduces the amount of dust/fines produced. The smaller particles of standard activated carbon also mean their is greater filtration surface area because there is less dead space between particles. These large particles have pores that are too large to actually do any chemical filtration. Again, it is horticulture charcoal. It isn't even proven to be useful in horticulture!

The picture above doesn't prove anything. The lump charcoal has larger gaps in it, so there isn't much accumulation of bacteria. Also means there isn't much filtering going on either. If people are tumbling this stuff, then they are filling their tank with carbon fines which has been linked to HLLE in tangs.

Seeing scams like this frustrates me. The webpage selling this stuff is like page one out of Scamming for Dummys. I mean, this is the first sentence from the webpage on what Aquachar is,

"While living in Africa and seeing the crisis first hand, Inventor/Applied Quantum Physicist Richard Ricardo was working on a process to purify water on Mars."

This is exactly what scammers do. They throw stuff like this at you because if they do then you think it is good stuff. I mean, how could it not be. Inventer/Applied Quantum Physicist that wants to go to Mars came up with it. Honestly, I would be more inclined to believe the stuff worked if a biochemist came up with it. At least a chemist knows how carbon filtration works on the molecular level, aka the whole point of using carbon filtration.

If you use this stuff, use at your own risk. At least don't pay $140 for what amounts to charred wood. Buy the cheap stuff from anywhere else and try that. I linked one such place to purchase in a previous post. And if you have tangs, please be wary that HLLE is a horrible disease and has been linked to excess carbon fines in the water column.

 

[Ricky Ricardo]

that charcoa

I just looked this stuff up because I had no idea what it was. Looks like the charcoal bits I used to have in my orchid potting mix. You can get 1qt for 8.99.

Edit: Link didn't post. Here it is again: Link to Amazon

that charcoal in your orchid potting mix is full of impurities you don’t want in your aquarium. from what i understand aquachar is cooked under such high temperatures for days to get all those impurities out. that’s why it clears ip the water overnight - but try both and let us know.

 

[erk]

that charcoa

that charcoal in your orchid potting mix is full of impurities you don’t want in your aquarium. from what i understand aquachar is cooked under such high temperatures for days to get all those impurities out. that’s why it clears ip the water overnight - but try both and let us know.

Why do you continue to pretend like you know nothing about this stuff? You are the so called inventor. It says so above in my post from the sentence I pulled from your site. I'm not going to let you scam these people. You've been reported. I'm done.

 

[Silver14SS]

Why do you continue to pretend like you know nothing about this stuff? You are the so called inventor. It says so above in my post from the sentence I pulled from your site. I'm not going to let you scam these people. You've been reported. I'm done.

Lol, I thought they were involved with the company based on their posts, thanks for getting to the truth of it so quickly. I expect this kind of thing from MLMs...

 

[CoralNerd]

I'm using AquaChar and I like it so far however, if you want something that will really work well in raising ph, then you need to look into a c02 scrubber. All carbons do help with ph and AquaChar has helped mine so far a little bit plus made my water nice and clear like carbon does.

 

[Peace River]

Lol, I thought they were involved with the company based on their posts, thanks for getting to the truth of it so quickly. I expect this kind of thing from MLMs...

@Silver14SS - I am not sure who you were including in your comment, but when you said "I thought they were involved" I want to mention that @James Kanouff is a personal friend of mine in person (not a virtual online friend) and I can verify the information that he shared about himself in his introduction. I don't know the person with the screen name "Ricky Ricardo" and won't make any comments about that person. I also received samples of aqua char at MACNA and haven't used it yet, so I do not have any personal experiences relating to the product to share at this time.

 

[Silver14SS]

I was referring to Ricky, apologies if quoting erk’s comment to him didn’t make it clear.

Good that James is happy with the product

 

[jthomps123]

They're also making dubious claims on facebook regarding 'discovering' a year ago how their charcoal's byproduct prevents mosquito bites... when pressed they cited a 3 week old study. They also have a sponsor group on FB "askrealreefers" pimping the product and banning those who question it.

 

[Silver14SS]

They're also making dubious claims on facebook regarding 'discovering' a year ago how their charcoal's byproduct prevents mosquito bites... when pressed they cited a 3 week old study. They also have a sponsor group on FB "askrealreefers" pimping the product and banning those who question it.

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

I belong to that group on facebook and have been apart of a lot of the controversial questions that either don't get answered or redirected and a lot of posts being deleted, it is a crazy price for what has no scientific backing.. most report it does what the creator claims but its all short term testing nothing long term yet as it has not been out yet. I have googled for hours ricky ricardo the creator and his Africa work and have found absolutely nothing. also if you google Africa water filtration its all very very cheap ways of filtering water mostly solar and sand filters. and there claims of heating the wood to a point where there is little waste and no ash is conflicting at the thousands of degrees there claiming the wood would be non existant. they also wont answer what types of wood is used or there methods of producing it. understandable they don't want everyone having a fire and making there own. my guessing is its a mix of soft woods and hard just put threw a normal char process. in time it will be figured out. until then they are getting a lot of hype and people trying it threw the positive and the negative post on facebook. is it the nex big thing in reefing only time will tell

 

[James Kanouff]

I want folks to understand after the question was initially posted is, they say it filters water and increases ph by reducing C02 in the water. Both of which I clearly saw happen when I implemented it 2 weeks ago and is ongoing.

I don't like the negative attitude with out concrete proof of false claims.
I can't say anything about how its made or what its made from, or why it does what i'm seeing with regards to C02 but I'm just reporting what I see happen.
Maybe R.H.F "Randy Holmes Farley" might chime in on his thoughts of whats going on to convert C02. Its way out side my understanding of reef chemistry. The micro porosity would, after a time, have biological bacteria type effects but the initial ph increase I don't understand at all. But I definitely see it happen and with the small amounts property scaled to the water volume as they suggest. About 1 cup per 100 gallons ish for reference. not like liters and liters or anything crazy.

Definitely don't grind it like bio pellets of course that servers no purpose and would create fines i think.
For me many companies have be complicating carbon with all sorts of things including GFO, GFO coated polymers, and other mystical additions. There is what three or four varieties of Carbon from the common competitor now? Then there is various porosity versions and mixtures, on n on. No surprise people are skeptical.

I'm curious about HITH disease in tangs from carbon that I have never seen happen personally. What exactly has ever been proven other than many carbon users report it happens? I can say I think OZONE definitely showed HITH on my hippo tang in a matter of months and I discontinued it immeidalty. But I don't fear occasional use of carbon in my systems.
I'm not gonna call anything a SHAM or a miracle until I have evidence of such.
I support the hobby and the new products that come out. If it does half what they claim then I'd say its better than canisters full of sofnolime scrubber. A five gallon of that is 99$ ish and lasts exactly as long as the amount of C02 you shove thru it. Which is highly dependant and changing in a home situation. I know it very well and I use it in my scuba rebreather and it last exactly 3.5 hours of me breathing normally for a certain weight of product in the canister. Its very predictable id say at absorbing c02 from respiration. But how much air and at what c02 level you pass thru it in a open home environment is highly variable and is just too complicated IMO for MY reef tank scenario. A fresh air line to out side always seemed smartest and easiest and honestly only minimally effective for my issue I had.
I tried to only pump air thru it when ph was below a threshold and only guessed at when it would run out which lead to a sudden influx of c02 laden air crashing the ph randomly and me running after bins of c02 scrubber like a nut and then my ALK precipitating when the ph got so low that it just flashed when it hit the water from high c02 and the drip. It was all too complicated and unpredictable for a reef tank IMO. Something as simple as a bag of charcoal no matter how or what its made of giving me a similar effect with out all the rest of the variables seems more manageable. With the newest APEX stuff a simple pump on a second canister could be switched on when ph met a threshold till the user changed out the main Bag sort of thing maybe. And that would be far less expensive I think than tubs of one time use sofnolime. BTW the sofnolime "the common c02 scrubber pellets" is caustic if it gets WET!!!
I encourage all input on this and ill add my thoughts as I go along but i don't wanna see someone internet bashing someone with no proof either way. If any one thinks it didn't do what they said please expand on it. I do think there is alot of complications with C02 in a reef tank. We all know when people come to our house the ph crashes in our tank. maybe we toss a bag in a few hours before they show up and see if it changes anything. Or some other constructive tests with out too much user complication adversely effecting the interpreted results.

Its my understanding they are working on independent tests that should outline the claims with a base line. I talked with them at the booth about my ideas on that and it would help alot. Maybe we will see that soon. I'd imagine a few weeks or a month to get ICP tests and some other c02 data maybe. Time will tell I guess.

 

[BlueDamselReef]

BRS was questioned about aquachar on Facebook and they MAY be testing this product soon... HOPEFULLY! They did say however that if it's not a product they'd recommend then they wouldn't post a video on it but we were trying to convince them to post a video either way. The people wanna know!

I also got a couple of samples at MACNA but haven't used them. I don't go throwing random stuff in my tank just because... but that's just me. I heard the schpeal and saw the presentation on aquachar at MACNA and it honestly made zero sense to me. As soon as I left the table I commented to my dad "that guy has no idea what he's talking about." But that's just my opinion and what I witnessed that he showed me. It's literally just burnt wood chips, appeared to be very messy, and I honestly just didn't understand the presentation.

I'm not saying it doesn't work or it does work, it just came across as gimmicky and if I really wanted to, I could just burn my own wood chips. But again...this is just my own opinion. I'm honestly interested in seeing real/unbiased results/findings on this. But if it's not broke don't fix it, and the activated carbon that I've used in my tanks for years works just fine.

 

[amps]

What I wonder about this product is how it's better than using Red Sea carbon or BRS ROX. I'm sure it does what it claims, the same as any carbon product. But how is it fundamentally better? Especially when it costs a ton more.

All of the marketing speak reads like a Facebook mom trying to sell some homeopathic face cream.

 

[amps]

Also, since apparently it's much harder than regular charcoal band has a denser pore structure, I bet they're using a hardwood like Ipe or Ebony. That would help explain the high cost.

 

[Silver14SS]

All of the marketing speak reads like a Facebook mom trying to sell some homeopathic face cream.

 

[Rjramos]

Well I first saw aquachar booth at Reefapalooza Orlando in April and was informed of it. Didn’t buy. Then again at MACNA, I got the 20 gal sample. Giving out a sample to me, is a marketing strategy used when you can’t convince people on a product. Imagine at the cost of aquachar a 20 gal sample for everyone at MACNA over the weekend. They took a hit so people can try without buying and maybe that way people are convinced on its use. I don’t run charcoal on any of my tanks at home. I decided to throw the aquachar in a bag, rinse it and placed it in media basket on my 29 biocube. Been 1 week and the water is clearer but that’s what I expect out of any carbon. How is aquachar different ? I will wait and see.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I think Ricky Richardo got deported. Haven't heard from him. Who would have a profile name same as on the website? Then come on here as if only a user. Instead of letting all know he's the inventor. Great marketing strategy. He sure knows his target market. Gotta give him that. Heeee

 

[Rjramos]

I think Ricky Richardo got deported. Haven't heard from him. Who would have a profile name same as on the website? Then come on here as if only a user. Instead of letting all know he's the inventor. Great marketing strategy. He sure knows his target market. Gotta give him that. Heeee

Well let’s see. Like I said, he put out a heck of a lot of expensive aquachar to prove his product works or works better than granular charcoal. I am putting the 20 gal baggie to test on the 29 biocube, but I am not gonna be testing pH, I’ll leave that to the BRS guys, lol! I am gonna go by water clarity,
Overall tank health, and longevity of use. I am also not testing it against GAC I have seldom used it. Tank is running on a small skimmer and mechanical filtration(bonded pad) no media, and a refugium with chaeto, lit 24 hrs from behind the tank. Just put the aquachar in on 9/16, after 5 days water much clearer.

 

[James Kanouff]

I think Ricky Richardo got deported. Haven't heard from him. Who would have a profile name same as on the website? Then come on here as if only a user. Instead of letting all know he's the inventor. Great marketing strategy. He sure knows his target market. Gotta give him that. Heeee

I think Ricky realized that some trolls here just wanted to hate on it and put his time into more useful things. If anyone has real questions and input lets keep putting it here. If anyone has had a big issue please post it. If anyone has more than off the cuff negativity about the folks who invented it posting about thoughts on there product and how it could be used, then by all means call the police or something. I can't imagine Ricky "doesn't even own a fish tank that I heard of" or any of the people " Brian Covey" who developed these things are first n foremost con artists. Folks are free to express opinions I guess. I don't even think they developed it for fish tanks. That was said several places. They just got feed back from interested people who saw its effects as a way to deal with things we battle in fish tanks. C02 absorption was my immediate interest. I hope they can indeed filter water for poverty areas and even find other new uses for the product. They have there own proprietary methods to produce a completely new product that after seeing what it can do will likely have many uses yet to be discovered or implemented. I talked to a local RODI company about using it to treat c02 from well water eating up DI. Just another cool idea that came to my mind maybe they benefit from it who knows. Gotta test it I guess.

Again I'm going to say I have never seen a Carbon company make any claim to buffering PH or absorbing C02. Thats completely new/ different here and the part that interest me most. Filtering water is nothing new. Bacteria colonizing things is nothing new. What bacteria does is nothing new to us. Surface area is a known positive for bacteria. Some still use plastic balls just for this reason i guess. It works and its simple.

I can't say I see anything in my usage so far un expected or out of line from the claims. I'll be at day 20 this evening as I started it the day after MACNA when I got home and unpacked. I could add sparkling photos of my water and fish and huge colonies but to be honest I'm not scientifically recording results, there just my opinions of what I'm seeing and are worth just that. My 2 cents. I like it. Its doing what its supposed to, no negative effects to my dinner plate size colony of RAJA rampage. or any of the ACRO colonies. I am always changing water or equipment or something that can effect my corals n fish and I'm trying not to do stuff that could alter the test. But real third party tests and longer term observations will hold the most value here. Till then I'm willing to add it to all my tanks as I can afford and till I no longer see a benefit. I would honestly sign up for a reoccurring delivery of what I need I think. Even at this early in the test. I don't even know what it would cost me. I don't even know the pricing. But I do know if it smoothes out the ph and most importantly counter acts C02 well enough then the chances of me restarting my Res sea 250 in the house are good. The whole reason I tore that system down was the c02 relentlessly killing off fresh SPS growth and constantly messing with my ALK levels thru various amounts of ATO with inconsistent levels of KALK trying to battle the c02 in the water in varying season and states of open doors n windows thru out the day. lord knows I don't want to even go down that c02 road again it was terrible and it was really the only thing that was stopping me. I have a hugely successful tank system now in the garage using the same stuff I did inside with out the C02 issue compounding everything we already battle in the hobby. If this some how can offset enough C02 to make the indoor tanks SPS tanks again I'm Gonna order buckets and put on a AQUACHAR shirt for the leap forward it can be for many hobbyist with the same issue I battled for many years. I don't honestly think it can over come that huge of a c02 obstacle but who knows maybe it can. Only time will tell. I'll try n get photos of all my stuff this weekend if it makes folks feel better. Who knows. Picture is worth a thousand words I guess. Maybe I'll make a you tube video or something if it seems helpful.
What I really want is folks to try it and post what they see going on. The proof is in the pudding. I Cant see how it could crash your system or kill your animals in any way. And I am not aware of a single claim of that sort of issue or any other issue for that matter. All that is left to debate is how much its worth to people it seems and if its better than other alternatives if there are any. That and what other things it could be used for is pretty interesting. since they have a patent they believe in it. There not gonna run out n tell you how to make it your self I don't think. Even if you could.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I think Ricky realized that some trolls here just wanted to hate on it and put his time into more useful things. If anyone has real questions and input lets keep putting it here. If anyone has had a big issue please post it. If anyone has more than off the cuff negativity about the folks who invented it posting about thoughts on there product and how it could be used, then by all means call the police or something. I can't imagine Ricky "doesn't even own a fish tank that I heard of" or any of the people " Brian Covey" who developed these things are first n foremost con artists. Folks are free to express opinions I guess. I don't even think they developed it for fish tanks. That was said several places. They just got feed back from interested people who saw its effects as a way to deal with things we battle in fish tanks. C02 absorption was my immediate interest. I hope they can indeed filter water for poverty areas and even find other new uses for the product. They have there own proprietary methods to produce a completely new product that after seeing what it can do will likely have many uses yet to be discovered or implemented. I talked to a local RODI company about using it to treat c02 from well water eating up DI. Just another cool idea that came to my mind maybe they benefit from it who knows. Gotta test it I guess.

Again I'm going to say I have never seen a Carbon company make any claim to buffering PH or absorbing C02. Thats completely new/ different here and the part that interest me most. Filtering water is nothing new. Bacteria colonizing things is nothing new. What bacteria does is nothing new to us. Surface area is a known positive for bacteria. Some still use plastic balls just for this reason i guess. It works and its simple.

I can't say I see anything in my usage so far un expected or out of line from the claims. I'll be at day 20 this evening as I started it the day after MACNA when I got home and unpacked. I could add sparkling photos of my water and fish and huge colonies but to be honest I'm not scientifically recording results, there just my opinions of what I'm seeing and are worth just that. My 2 cents. I like it. Its doing what its supposed to, no negative effects to my dinner plate size colony of RAJA rampage. or any of the ACRO colonies. I am always changing water or equipment or something that can effect my corals n fish and I'm trying not to do stuff that could alter the test. But real third party tests and longer term observations will hold the most value here. Till then I'm willing to add it to all my tanks as I can afford and till I no longer see a benefit. I would honestly sign up for a reoccurring delivery of what I need I think. Even at this early in the test. I don't even know what it would cost me. I don't even know the pricing. But I do know if it smoothes out the ph and most importantly counter acts C02 well enough then the chances of me restarting my Res sea 250 in the house are good. The whole reason I tore that system down was the c02 relentlessly killing off fresh SPS growth and constantly messing with my ALK levels thru various amounts of ATO with inconsistent levels of KALK trying to battle the c02 in the water in varying season and states of open doors n windows thru out the day. lord knows I don't want to even go down that c02 road again it was terrible and it was really the only thing that was stopping me. I have a hugely successful tank system now in the garage using the same stuff I did inside with out the C02 issue compounding everything we already battle in the hobby. If this some how can offset enough C02 to make the indoor tanks SPS tanks again I'm Gonna order buckets and put on a AQUACHAR shirt for the leap forward it can be for many hobbyist with the same issue I battled for many years. I don't honestly think it can over come that huge of a c02 obstacle but who knows maybe it can. Only time will tell. I'll try n get photos of all my stuff this weekend if it makes folks feel better. Who knows. Picture is worth a thousand words I guess. Maybe I'll make a you tube video or something if it seems helpful.
What I really want is folks to try it and post what they see going on. The proof is in the pudding. I Cant see how it could crash your system or kill your animals in any way. And I am not aware of a single claim of that sort of issue or any other issue for that matter. All that is left to debate is how much its worth to people it seems and if its better than other alternatives if there are any. That and what other things it could be used for is pretty interesting. since they have a patent they believe in it. There not gonna run out n tell you how to make it your self I don't think. Even if you could.

Also, I never knocked their product, just their marketing strategy. ....