Carbon media for toxic warfare/water clarity but do not want to strip PO4.

[Salty_Northerner]

That I don't know..

Ok no worries and thank you. I'm carbon dosing right now and was going to toss in a bag of carbon last night but I wasn't sure if it would pull out the polymers from my salt mix. I know the water should clear up after a day or so, so I'll have to see tomorrow when I get home if the water is crystal clean.. or maybe the trocus snail realeased his milky substance AGAIN in the water column.

 

[Miami Reef]

Does GAC mess whit carbon dosing?

No. It doesn’t. Liquid carbon won’t adsorb on the activated carbon.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

Excellent thank you.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

@Lebowski_ let me know what you think of there carbon after using it for a few days.

 

[billyocean]

@Lebowski_ let me know what you think of there carbon after using it for a few days.

My tank was pretty clear before carbon..so I thought. Take a clear cup and put some tank water in it...then get a clear cup of tank water the next day.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, Chemi Pure Blue won't bind phosphate from seawater, despite misleading claims that do not distinguish seawater (where ion exchange resins do not bind appreciably phosphate, too much competition from other negatively charged ions) from freshwater (where it might).

As folks have mentioned, GAC also does not bind appreciable phosphate from seawater.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ok no worries and thank you. I'm carbon dosing right now and was going to toss in a bag of carbon last night but I wasn't sure if it would pull out the polymers from my salt mix. I know the water should clear up after a day or so, so I'll have to see tomorrow when I get home if the water is crystal clean.. or maybe the trocus snail realeased his milky substance AGAIN in the water column.

It may bind polymers, just not small molecule organic carbon dosing (vinegar, vodka, NOPOX, sugar, etc.).

 

[Salty_Northerner]

It may bind polymers, just not small molecule organic carbon dosing (vinegar, vodka, NOPOX, sugar, etc.).

What about seachem Purigen, will it bind polymers? I just read that it is also a polymer but a synthetic one.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What about seachem Purigen, will it bind polymers? I just read that it is also a polymer but a synthetic one.

It may, depending on the polymer. Any media may bind certain polymers. Even rock and sand can bind certain polymers. They have very different properties than small molecule organics.

The reason they are different is an effect called polyvalency. Meaning they can attach at many points, perhaps several or tens or hundreds of binding sites. That leads to much stronger binding, mostly due to the increased entropy from the smaller molecules released from each of those binding sites.

Thought of in a different way, imagine one site ont eh polymer binds to one site on the surfgace. Then all of the other sites are at least temporarily in very close proximity to the surface and are much more likely to become attached. That doesn't happen with a small molecule like ethanol.

 

[Lebowski_]

Does GAC actually break down after a month and need to be replaced? Sounds like a potentially genius marketing strategy.

 

[Miami Reef]

Does GAC actually break down after a month and need to be replaced? Sounds like a potentially genius marketing strategy.

It doesn’t break down, but the pores will be saturated with organics/bacteria which will reduce the efficacy of further binding.

 

[GARRIGA]

Does GAC mess whit carbon dosing?

No. Two different things. GAC is a material that absorbs vs carbon dosing is adding organics such as sugar to complete denitrification.

 

[GARRIGA]

Those marineland polishing units... We could just buy the casing and filter and pop it into a powerhead for a few bucks in the day lol.. that could be a good tool though.

Could do that. I’ve seen it done on YouTube

 

[Salty_Northerner]

No. Two different things. GAC is a material that absorbs vs carbon dosing is adding organics such as sugar to complete denitrification.

I'm not carbon dosing the traditional way like vodka or sugar, vinegar. Sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong and that's fine as I always do appreciate the criticism.

For one I just can't wrap my head around using ethanol or acid and sugar based carbon dosing procedures. And secondly I don't want to crash this tank.

I've always fought with nutrients control. Either I would have too high of nitrates or I would bottom out on my phosphorus. I would be given advice like adding reef roids, feed your fish more, add more fish Ect and all that did was create more problems.

So I've gone down the Tropic Marin path. Using TM bio actif Reef salt. Using TM plus -NP. TM NP bacto balance and I'm actually having great success. Po3 is sitting at 3 and po4 ,05 and actually added another fish so far the parameters have been hanging in there. That's why I was asking if GAC would bind the polymers in which I'm using to basically carbon dose my tank. If I'm going to add activated carbon to the tank then I'm kind of defeating the purpose if the carbon removes what I am striving to accomplish.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm not carbon dosing the traditional way like vodka or sugar, vinegar. Sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong and that's fine as I always do appreciate the criticism.

For one I just can't wrap my head around using ethanol or acid and sugar based carbon dosing procedures. And secondly I don't want to crash this tank.

I've always fought with nutrients control. Either I would have too high of nitrates or I would bottom out on my phosphorus. I would be given advice like adding reef roids, feed your fish more, add more fish Ect and all that did was create more problems.

So I've gone down the Tropic Marin path. Using TM bio actif Reef salt. Using TM plus -NP. TM NP bacto balance and I'm actually having great success. Po3 is sitting at 3 and po4 ,05 and actually added another fish so far the parameters have been hanging in there. That's why I was asking if GAC would bind the polymers in which I'm using to basically carbon dose my tank. If I'm going to add activated carbon to the tank then I'm kind of defeating the purpose if the carbon removes what I am striving to accomplish.

It won’t bind all of it, but it may bind some. Bacteria on the GAC may also happily munch on polymers partly attached to the GAC.

 

[GARRIGA]

I'm not carbon dosing the traditional way like vodka or sugar, vinegar. Sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong and that's fine as I always do appreciate the criticism.

For one I just can't wrap my head around using ethanol or acid and sugar based carbon dosing procedures. And secondly I don't want to crash this tank.

I've always fought with nutrients control. Either I would have too high of nitrates or I would bottom out on my phosphorus. I would be given advice like adding reef roids, feed your fish more, add more fish Ect and all that did was create more problems.

So I've gone down the Tropic Marin path. Using TM bio actif Reef salt. Using TM plus -NP. TM NP bacto balance and I'm actually having great success. Po3 is sitting at 3 and po4 ,05 and actually added another fish so far the parameters have been hanging in there. That's why I was asking if GAC would bind the polymers in which I'm using to basically carbon dose my tank. If I'm going to add activated carbon to the tank then I'm kind of defeating the purpose if the carbon removes what I am striving to accomplish.

Sorry. I misunderstood your question. Randy did reply and I go with his knowledge. Might also want to ask Lou at TM as I don't know if their formula is something beyond just vinegar, vodka or sugars. I dose NoPox and have been very successful with it although when overdosed did get white bacterial slime which I believe can occur with any type of carbon dosing. Moderation always best until the proper dosage found.

 

[Pyrogens]

Drop this in the sump with GAC and problem solved. Can also be used with DE to micro polish the water for those show off dinner parties. Simple enough to run as many as can fit without messing with extra plumbing. Aim the nozzle to keep detritus suspended or can even be used to spin chaeto, if needed. Depending on carbon size, might fit the provided container or just place in a finer carbon sock.

It makes me kinda sad when I see Marineland calling this a magnum when I used to employ the old H.O.T magnums back in the day for all sorts of useful things including GAC.

 

[X-37B]

Rox in a used chemipure nylon bag works well in my 20g nano.
I run, 1 cup, quite a bit more than the brs calculator recommends.
I change it once a month.
My system is acro heavy.
When needed I use po4 reducing media the same way.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sorry. I misunderstood your question. Randy did reply and I go with his knowledge. Might also want to ask Lou at TM as I don't know if their formula is something beyond just vinegar, vodka or sugars. I dose NoPox and have been very successful with it although when overdosed did get white bacterial slime which I believe can occur with any type of carbon dosing. Moderation always best until the proper dosage found.

Reef Actif is a biopolymer, unlike normal carbon dosing organics used by reefers.

 

[Pyrogens]

Sorry, I feel like I also didn't contribute to the OPs original question. I haven't personally run GAC in a long while, but a 250G softy display I used to manage we ran it off and on when we either fragged, or if we noticed things generally looked ticked off. Fwiw, I also never saw a complete stripping of phosphates in systems that did employ GAC 24/7.