ACTIVATED CARBON - HOW IT WORKS, AREAS OF APPLICATION IN THE REEF TANK

AKTIVKOHLE - FUNKTIONSWEISE, EINSATZGEBIETE UND ANWENDUNG IM AQUARIUM
Johannes Höhn
Johannes Höhn

The chemical filter medium most commonly used in saltwater aquariums is activated carbon. Activated carbon can be used to remove many different compounds from aquarium water. These include, for example, the so-called yellow substances, which are organic molecules (especially fulvic and humic acids) that cause the water to turn an unsightly yellow and significantly reduce the penetration of light. Activated carbon also removes harmful stinging toxins and repellents that your corals continually release into the water.

How activated carbon works: adsorption on a large surface

Activated carbon is carbon that has been processed into a highly porous material. The manufacturing process ensures an extremely large internal surface. Adsorption describes the property of a medium to bind certain molecules to its surface. This occurs, for example, due to Van der Waals forces or electrical charges (=ionic bonding). All chemical filter media have a certain maximum service life after which no further compounds or molecules can be absorbed from the environment. Activated carbon must therefore be replaced regularly.

Activated carbon in saltwater aquariums

The use of activated carbon is particularly useful in aquariums with mixed stocks (soft and hard corals). In addition to light-absorbing yellow substances, the activated carbon also removes growth-inhibiting stinging toxins and repellents.

What should be considered when using activated carbon?

#1 Goal: Yellow substance removal for clearer water

Since the removal of yellow substances (eg humic acids) involves a change in the amount of light available, and your corals have to get used to it first, the activated carbon should be used carefully and slowly the first time. For example, start with 10 g per 100 liters of aquarium water and increase week by week until you reach around 40 - 50 g of activated carbon per 100 liters of aquarium water. This amount is sufficient for long-term use. The activated carbon should be replaced after 4-6 weeks.

#2 Goal: Remove medications or toxins

Toxic substances (eg after the death of a sea cucumber in the aquarium) and medication should be removed from the aquarium water as quickly as possible. In such a case, you can therefore use a larger amount of activated carbon (100 g/100 liters). Ideally, the activated carbon is used in a media filter with a strong flow rate (200 L/h). In such cases, replace the activated carbon early, for example after 3 days, as the activated carbon can release the previously bound substances back into the aquarium water when the environmental conditions change.

Activated carbon against toxins

Activated carbon such as Tropic Marin Carbon should be in the emergency kit of every well-stocked aquarist's household. It doesn't matter whether you accidentally overdose on trace elements, a poisonous animal dies in the tank or dinoflagellates spread. In most cases, using activated carbon makes sense to reduce the toxic effects.

#3 Goal: Remove ozone and clean exhaust or supply air

When using ozone, activated carbon should be installed downstream of the skimmer or ozone reactor to remove excess (and potentially harmful) ozone from the water. In addition, for very large aquariums with a correspondingly large ozone input, we recommend installing an activated carbon reactor for the exhaust air on the skimmer to remove excess (and potentially harmful) ozone. The air supplied to the skimmer can also be filtered with activated carbon. This is particularly useful in households where smokers live or where scented candles or similar are frequently used. The replacement intervals for the activated carbon for this purpose are around 3-6 months.

Rinse activated carbon before use – yes or no and above all how?

There are different opinions on this topic:

  1. Rinse activated carbon with hot water and leave it there for a while
  2. Rinse activated carbon with osmosis water
  3. Rinse activated carbon with salt water

So what is the right way to proceed? We can recommend that you first rinse the activated carbon, because this removes the carbon abrasion, which would otherwise unnecessarily irritate the mucous membranes of your fish in the water and can also have a negative effect on some corals, such as xenias. Rinsing with salt water is supposed to counteract the formation of a boundary layer. Rinsing with hot water is supposed to displace air from the pore system of the activated carbon. We cannot say for sure whether these two methods really noticeably improve the functioning of the activated carbon. However, it is always a good idea to rinse the activated carbon thoroughly before using it in the aquarium.

Negative effects of activated carbon

Activated carbon can also have adverse effects. In addition to pollutants, it also removes important trace elements and is suspected of causing lateral line disease (e.g. in surgeonfish). Very intensive use (duration or amount) should therefore be approached with caution and should always be accompanied by careful monitoring and, if necessary, adjustment of the trace element balance.


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