Chloramine Blaster Carbon Cartridges Not Full?

[CMO]

I just purchased two replacement chloramine blaster carbon cartridges and they came about and inch or two under-filled so the carbon is loose inside. Is this normal? I'm used to seeing carbon cartridges packed full so the pellets cannot move around. Please advise if this is okay to use as is or if I need to top them off.

Thank you

 

[Ocelaris]

There is extruded carbon blocks and pelletized versions. It's meant to be that way, but I don't have experience with the pelletized versions as I've always assumed they were sub par? At least when I ordered them for the whole house filter, I didn't trust them. But the benefit is that they won't get clogged as much a carbon block. If you have a good micron filter, then I'm assuming that's not an issue. I would check with the vendor if they have a good support staff. I. E. Brs, premium aquatics, marine depot etc... They should have knowledgeable staff which knows why it's the fluidized version for chloramine buster.

 

[CMO]

The carbon used in these is marketed as a very high grade. I don't see how granular would necessarily equated to lower quality compared to block carbon. I run high grade gac on all my tanks but make sure to avoid tumbling which can generate a dust from the pellets grinding. Just trying to understand if that's a concern here or maybe not since the flow rate is so low?

 

[Ocelaris]

That's the term, granular activated charcoal. I only meant lesser quality because on a whole house filter, I was buying a replacement big blue carbon block, and when I bought a generic replacement it was gac, which to me was switch and bait. I'm not sure if gac is less effective in sediment filtration, as for a single whole house filter, I imagine it wouldn't serve the same purpose. But for the op, it's just a shock, but serves its purpose well as gac? I switched to a quick change sanitary 3m filter now which is a larger carbon block which does a better job. I think the confusion lies in carbon block VS. Gac.

 

[CMO]

Okay just called aqua fx. they said it's best to have a little head room in this application to prevent channeling through the carbon.