Exhausted Carbon Biological Media Option

[GARRIGA]

I've often wondered about using carbon as biological media once it's no longer absorbing since it has an extremely large surface area. Thought about this with other media as well such as Purigen. Neither is supposed to leach it's contains unless I'm wrong about that. Can anyone think of a reason why this wouldn't work?

 

[blaxsun]

Ounce per ounce, bio media like MarinePure will have a vastly superior surface area.

 

[GARRIGA]

Ounce per ounce, bio media like MarinePure will have a vastly superior surface area.

Perhaps but I'm already using carbon so no additional cost and I can pack it in a reactor or canister more efficiently to exclude bypass and therefore more pragmatic. My only concern is if it would leach over time. That I'm not clear on.

 

[mdb_talon]

Perhaps but I'm already using carbon so no additional cost and I can pack it in a reactor or canister more efficiently to exclude bypass and therefore more pragmatic. My only concern is if it would leach over time. That I'm not clear on.

As I understand it GAC will not release all the stuff it has sucked up over time in a reef aquarium. Based on a seemingly believable article I read once and cant find now there are chemical processes that could cause this but it would not be something you would see in a reef aquarium.

Personally I think GAC would quickly clog and become more of a trap for detritus to break down than an effective biological media. I mean I do believe bacteria will grow on it, but I have my doubts that the benefit would outweigh the negatives of GAC vs some of the other available media.

 

[Malcontent]

One study where the authors 3D printed bio media kept all holes > 1.5 mm to prevent clogging. Assuming that's a good ballpark figure, carbon, pumice (Matrix), MarinePure, etc., would all clog and only the outer surface area would be utilized by aerobic bacteria.

 

[GARRIGA]

As I understand it GAC will not release all the stuff it has sucked up over time in a reef aquarium. Based on a seemingly believable article I read once and cant find now there are chemical processes that could cause this but it would not be something you would see in a reef aquarium.

Personally I think GAC would quickly clog and become more of a trap for detritus to break down than an effective biological media. I mean I do believe bacteria will grow on it, but I have my doubts that the benefit would outweigh the negatives of GAC vs some of the other available media.

I don't have issues with trapping detritus and letting it decompose into inorganic components. My only concern here being the leaching of that it previously trapped.

 

[GARRIGA]

One study where the authors 3D printed bio media kept all holes > 1.5 mm to prevent clogging. Assuming that's a good ballpark figure, carbon, pumice (Matrix), MarinePure, etc., would all clog and only the outer surface area would be utilized by aerobic bacteria.

I use pumice and assume the interval pores would clog overtime. Assume the same happens with porous live rock but everything organic decomposed with time. Including dead bacteria.

Regardless, I build my filtration on the assumed surface area and only reason to use pumice being it’s considerably lighter than gravel and does provide some interval surface benefits. Carbon would greatly increase that surface area and I would use it post pumice allowing the latter capture the majority of detritus and having that breakdown.