Carbon Confusion

[BeanAnimal]

There were some lengthy discussion in the chem forum. The GFO is certainly a better alternative compared to the aluminum based products.

GFO can cause precipitation of carbonates in the medium and in the aquarium (on pumps shafts, etc). It also releases soluble iron into the system. There are also credible reports of tissue bleaching and damage to corals. I think Randy Holmes Farley had an informative article in Reefkeeping. Check there and the chem forum for more.

[seagirl]

thanks BeanAnimal

[BeanAnimal]

Your welcome. I have about 3 pounds of the stuff... but have not used it. It came from twopartsulution.com in a group buy.

[rpeeples]

Hi folks, just a quick update.....I completed testing and will post results this evening on the TPS Rox 0.8 GAC. I will inlcude pics of the testing and my methodolgy as well. Results are promising if you like to use carbon.

[seagirl]

Originally posted by rpeeples
Hi folks, just a quick update.....I completed testing and will post results this evening on the TPS Rox 0.8 GAC. I will inlcude pics of the testing and my methodolgy as well. Results are promising if you like to use carbon.

great, can't wait to see the results

[rpeeples]

Hi Folks, I will try to make this as quick as possible but if more details is needed just fire away. My disclaimer is that I am not a chemist and I am only adding another perspective to on phosphate content of a particular Carbon. Two Part Solutions ROX 8.0 GAC. Also, I am limited to only using a Salfiert PO4 Test Kit which may not detect certain phosphates therefore I don't claim these results to be conclusive or conclude 100% certainty in the outcomes. I do however believe I now a a certain comfort level that this particular carbon is safe to use in my system. Finally this test was limited to only detecting phosphates and not the amount of organics or non-organics which can be removed from the system or the sorpability of media.

Now for the pics, logic and methodology used......

Here is the ROX 8.0 it its well package container:


This is to give a visual on the smallness of the pellet shaped carbon and a standard wood tooth pick is used for scale:


Now the math...well based on a wide variety of suggested GAC amounts to use I decided to try and scale the experiment based on what we may actually use in our tanks. So based on a very high usage rate of 2 cups per 55 Gallons I need to scale this to experimental form which resulted in using 1.73 ml of carbon within 750 ml of ROD H2O.

Below is a picture of the my filtration system and TDS status monitor. You will notice the output is at "0" ppm...a good thing.



Below is the test kit used and the two containers (both filled at 750 ml) I used to test the carbon in. The reason for using two was I actually took two samples. One sample was not washed and the other washed. The results showed no level of significance between the two however I personally prefer to wash carbon before entering the display environment.



The next couple of pictures show the actually test conducted. After letting the carbon sit for 24 hours I tested both samples. Hopefully you can see that the first image below there is no visible sign of phosphates. The second picture goes a step further and employees a quick test read about in Reef Volume 3 which states to actually drop the carbon into the testing solution and if PO4 is there it will actually start changing the solution to blue. I took this picture after letting the carbon sit in the solution for over one hour with again no trace of phosphates.



My own conclusion based on these results is that ROX 8.0 is safe to use in my reef environment with minimal concern of any leakage of phosphates. I hope you found this interesting and please do not hesitate to question the logic, methodology, or results.

Happy reefing.....and btw...my wife thinks I have officially lost it