Carbon

[Pappy]

Recently I've seen a lot of posts where people dose carbon (vinegar, vodka, etc..) I ran a reactor with activated carbon in it for a while and saw no difference in my tank whatsoever what is the reason for dosing carbon and what is the best method? Thx for the input!


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[cparka23]

Those are two different carbons. Dosing is to feed bacteria (a big component of low-nutrient systems), while activated carbon is to adsorb stuff in the water column. Activated carbon is often used to clean up the water when something goes awry, and it plugs up and needs to be changed after awhile.

 

[Pappy]

I see so what and how much to dose a 75 and 40? Does it make a huge difference?


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[wysiwyg]

from my understanding if your gonna dose vodka its 0.1ml for every 25gallons

 

[Young Frankenstein]

we nee to know total volume and % of rock, i did a quick calculation for you, see only the light blue area

Tank	System	Live	Total Rock	Total
Description	Volume	Rock %	in Gallons	Water
Main tank	75	15.00%	11.25	63.75
2nd tank	40	15.00%	6	34
sump	15	5.00%	0.75	14.25
					Daily dosage batch mix quantity.
					Vodka 80 proof or 40%	550	mlg
					Distiled WhiteVinegar	137.5	mlg
					Table Sugar	4.14	Table spoons
					One shot glass is about 30 mlg One teaspoon is 5 mlg
TOTAL SYSTEM GALLONS	130	18	112	Total Systems water is =	112	gl
Recommended daily Dosage	If undetectable	If Detectable
			adjust to and maintain	adjust to and maintain
Days 1-3	0.45	mlg	Daily dosage	Daily dosage
Days 4-7	0.90	mlg
Week 2	1.40	mlg	0.70	mlg		0.80	mlg
Week 3	1.90	mlg	0.95	mlg		1.05	mlg
Week 4	2.40	mlg	1.20	mlg		1.30	mlg
Week 5	2.90	mlg	1.45	mlg		1.55	mlg
Week 6	3.40	mlg	1.70	mlg		1.80	mlg
Week 7	3.90	mlg	1.95	mlg		2.05	mlg

 

[Young Frankenstein]

dont forget, once you get undetectable measurments you switch adjust and maintain

 

[Pappy]

My 75 prob has 100 lbs rock and sump is about 15 gallons with about another 30lbs rock. On 40 very minimal maybe 30 lbs rock and 5 gallons in sump. When you say I detectable vs undetectable is there a test kit for this?


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[Young Frankenstein]

My 75 prob has 100 lbs rock and sump is about 15 gallons with about another 30lbs rock. On 40 very minimal maybe 30 lbs rock and 5 gallons in sump. When you say I detectable vs undetectable is there a test kit for this?


Mike D "like the beastie boys" Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes there are test kits, but test after you get rid of the hair algae I need percentage of rock since there are different density's.

 

[Pappy]

Here's a pic of the my guess would be 75% water?75

Here's a pic of 40 95% water?

What is the test kit and will prob do the white vinegar?


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[chort55]

The test kits are for your nitrates/trites

 

[chort55]

Do you have a good skimmer? If not get one or don't do carbon dosing!

 

[chort55]

Without a good skimmer you can actually do more damage then good by carbon dosing.... including kill your animals!

 

[BillyC]

You don't just need a good skimmer if you're serious about carbon dosing. You need a REALLY good oversized skimmer! Can't stress this enough. So many people try this and pollute their tank and blame the carbon dosing. Do your homework first. Here's a useful link with more info. Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com

Pic of my skimmer rated for 3-4x my water volume. Overkill? Maybe. But great results.

 

[Pappy]

I'm running an aqua c ev180 on the 40 gallon rated up to 180 gallons. And on the 75 I'm running an evolution 500 also rated at about 180. I will read the link as soon as I get a sec.


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[Pappy]

I don't have any nitrates nor nitrites and do weekly wc. Is there another benefit? I believe Franky said it benefits the bacteria?


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[Young Frankenstein]

Without heavy skimming the export will not happen, the ORP will drop like a hammer and you are risking everything going south.

 

[Pappy]

Orp?


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[Dre59]

Look into Vitamin C dosing also.. I'm following some threads to see results and if worth the headache to dose