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Re: NFC: light bulbs and tannins
mdb6850 at tamug_tamu.edu wrote:
>
> I see a recommendation of using charcoal for clearing up water.
> Can your ordinary backyard barbecue briquettes be used as filter
> carbon? Should they be crumbled first and what are the opinions
> on application in saltwater tanks?
> Matt
No. They will not do anything like what activated carbon will do, and the
*kind* of activated carbon ("charcoal") can be critical. The chips sold in
the LFS tend to be pretty worthless. Finely granulated inserts, in a
high-pressure cylinder is usually best. You still may need very very slow
trickle feed to remove difficult compounds like chloramine. Time of contact
and surface area are both critical. The other critical factor is that the
surface was fully cleaned and depleted before you start.
BBQ briquets contain clay binders and other stuff that's likely to not be
good for your tank. Cloud city, would be my first guess.
Water changes do much better at clearing water than carbon filters, in most
cases. LFS charcoal can barely clear up simple dyes, like methylene blue,
and do little else to the water.
Wright
--
Wright Huntley, Fremont CA, USA, 510 494-8679 huntleyone at home dot com
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