Magnetic carbon

[F i s h y]

After seeing a thread in which @TankYouVeryMuch and @Devisissy discussed the possibility of bad carbon causing issue in tanks i decided to run a magnet through mine. Cautionary tale... bulk carbon may not be safe. Lab grade is best, but some of us can't afford to buy that. I thought my Amazon stuff would work. I didn't have anything elevated on my last icp. But now that I've been using this, I think another test may need done.

 

[FishLvR]

The carbon didn't kill my fish though. It killed my corals. That was the beginning of the downfall, the next issue was the salt mix. My LFS had this huge deal on this new salt. They had just come out, it was 2016. The salt mix was so low on alk, and my fault I didn't test, my tank's fate was sealed. My alk was below 4. Because their salt mix was not stable. The owner of the company over Facebook explained to me that they had purchased the formula from someone and knew of the issue and were trying to sort it quickly. I was given a years worth of salt that I never used after the incident. I won't name the company but apparently they have solved the issue since their salt is sold everywhere without any issues. So I had bad carbon and a bad salt mix that was my first ever crash.

 

[F i s h y]

The carbon didn't kill my fish though. It killed my corals. That was the beginning of the downfall, the next issue was the salt mix. My LFS had this huge deal on this new salt. They had just come out, it was 2016. The salt mix was so low on alk, and my fault I didn't test, my tank's fate was sealed. My alk was below 4. Because their salt mix was not stable. The owner of the company over Facebook explained to me that they had purchased the formula from someone and knew of the issue and were trying to sort it quickly. I was given a years worth of salt that I never used after the incident. I won't name the company but apparently they have solved the issue since their salt is sold everywhere without any issues. So I had bad carbon and a bad salt mix that was my first ever crash.

Yep, my issue is with a few coral not looking great. I had done a series of large water changes to vacuum my sand. Tank is 8 ft by 30 inches footprint so lots of sand. It looked great after the vacuuming. Fast forward and it's been a while and coral just don't look as good. All other parameters check out. Could be carbon related for me, might not be, but im switching anyways. No need to tempt fate.

Tank crashes suck. Sorry for your awful luck to start out. Glad you have stuck with it.

 

[FishLvR]

I wonder if it is the shape of the carbon that allows it to be somewhat magnetic.

 

[F i s h y]

I wonder if it is the shape of the carbon that allows it to be somewhat magnetic.

Hmmm wouldn't it still need to contain metal though? Either way, I found a nail in mine. So it's not being used anymore.

 

[FishLvR]

Yep, my issue is with a few coral not looking great. I had done a series of large water changes to vacuum my sand. Tank is 8 ft by 30 inches footprint so lots of sand. It looked great after the vacuuming. Fast forward and it's been a while and coral just don't look as good. All other parameters check out. Could be carbon related for me, might not be, but im switching anyways. No need to tempt fate.

Tank crashes suck. Sorry for your awful luck to start out. Glad you have stuck with it.

The two fishes carbon was way more magnetic than what you are showing with your amazon carbon. I mean it was stuck on there so fully. I then used a rare earth magnet and really got a ton of carbon to stick. The company rep I emailed pretty much accused me of using their bucket and putting some other carbon in it. Then they ghosted me. I didn't think it was odd it was magnetic until they accused me of the switcharoo. Then I knew something was up. I think the way it is manufactured allows for it to have metal introduced. I really don't know.

 

[FishLvR]

Wait that's a nail? I just thought it was an odd shaped carbon. what the heck!

 

[FishLvR]

I know where the nail came from! So I bet you, and this is speculation, they are using cheap reclaimed wood, maybe even pallets to produce their carbon. OMG I bet you that's it! Crazy. Yeah I use ROX now. Every 21 days I change it out and I am using almost nothing. I find that small amount is enough to keep fishy smells away. 21 days seems to be when the smell comes back. Its a smaller game room so anything that helps.

 

[KrisReef]

Hmmm wouldn't it still need to contain metal though? Either way, I found a nail in mine. So it's not being used anymore.

I suspect that it's a piece of machinery that is used in processing or manufacture or transport of the cabon. The carbon movement is wearing down the (iron) metal in contaminating the carbon with iron filings? OR maybe the carbon is contaminated with iron filings and they were not removed before dumping everything in the bucket.

Iron is a good plant fertilizer but I am not certain what iron excess is responsible for in marine systems?

 

[F i s h y]

I know where the nail came from! So I bet you, and this is speculation, they are using cheap reclaimed wood, maybe even pallets to produce their carbon. OMG I bet you that's it! Crazy. Yeah I use ROX now. Every 21 days I change it out and I am using almost nothing. I find that small amount is enough to keep fishy smells away. 21 days seems to be when the smell comes back. Its a smaller game room so anything that helps.

Reclaimed wood was also my thought.

 

[F i s h y]

I suspect that it's a piece of machinery that is used in processing or manufacture or transport of the cabon. The carbon movement is wearing down the (iron) metal in contaminating the carbon with iron filings? OR maybe the carbon is contaminated with iron filings and they were not removed before dumping everything in the bucket.

Iron is a good plant fertilizer but I am not certain what iron excess is responsible for in marine systems?

Definitely a possibility. And im not sure what effect it really has in our tanks either. Only that rusty magnets seem to get a bad rap, so taking no chances with this.

 

[F i s h y]

Anyone know how hard it would be to make your own carbon? Seems like it would be easy?

 

[BeanAnimal]

I don’t think at is reasonable, that would be an insane amount of wear. Is the source coal, wood or coconut? Coal can certainly have a high mineral and iron content. Common use equipment and materials handling could cause cross contamination too. Find a different carbon source.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Anyone know how hard it would be to make your own carbon? Seems like it would be easy?

Not reasonably possible. The charcoal part is theoretically possible, but activation, especially steam is not even remotely possible. The temperatures, pressures and controls are out of reach. Acid activation isn’t really doable with any reasonable control either, but you don’t want that anyway, as phosphate is the leftover.

 

[bluemon]

Another reason to go for the pellets (ROX)

As if causing HLLE wasn’t bad enough…

 

[F i s h y]

Not reasonably possible. The charcoal part is theoretically possible, but activation, especially steam is not even remotely possible. The temperatures, pressures and controls are out of reach. Acid activation isn’t really doable with any reasonable control either, but you don’t want that anyway, as phosphate is the leftover.

Thats good to know, I wondered what the Activated part meant. Im not much on chemistry, im a numbers guy (banker).

 

[F i s h y]

I don’t think at is reasonable, that would be an insane amount of wear. Is the source coal, wood or coconut? Coal can certainly have a high mineral and iron content. Common use equipment and materials handling could cause cross contamination too. Find a different carbon source.

No idea what the source is to be honest, never thought to check. More due diligence on my part would be better next time.