Carbon and water purification poll!!!!

[Boomer]

Make fun of ? Nah, it is called picking on buddies Frank

I am however not to sure size matters and it has more to do with the acid washing process that Rox go's through. Does KZ treat there carbon in the same manner?

Size Frank is a MAJOR key in selecting GAC for any application. And for us the smaller the better.

Do you mean this stuff

Activated Carbon :: Zeovit Media & Misc. :: ZEOvit USA

That is $21.45 / lb and that is a rip-off big time no matter what kind of GAC it is, even if it is ROX or of the Rox family(not including ROX-Extra). There are 5 GAC in the ROX family. ROW 0.8, which was the test GAC for ROX and I still have a container of if from Ron when it first came out 10 years ago, is only sold in Europe and it is not as good as ROX 0.8. If you buy a single 1.25 /lb bag of ROX form BRS it is $15.99 / lb. That is $12.79 / lb vs 21.45 / lb and that is $8.66 / lb MORE !!! I had not clue it was the costly. If anybody is buying that stuff from them they are waisting crap loads of money. I'll bet you anything that KZ is the same stuff Elos is selling and I have a bag of it that Jesse from Elos wanted me to look at. It is a very good Bitum GAC and the Elso stuff is

Carbon M

Elos Marine Carbon Filter Media

ROX = 39.99 for 1 gal = 3.78 L = $10.57 / l = $5.28 / 500ml

Elos = $22.69 for 500ml that is 4 x ROX

It is on sale for $118.99 for 3 liters and that is not even a gallon. ROX / gal is $39.99 for a gal. That Elos stuff is the biggest rip-off I have seen yet. I have never looked at their pricing before on this GAC or the KZ, as both have never come up on any of my 100's of post on GAC IIRC

 

[Frankie]

Make fun of ? Nah, it is called picking on buddies Frank

I knew that. You have been a lot rougher then that with me in the past and still take your time out to help me in my ignorance
Yeah, once I saw the price for the Rox my head almost popped off. I ordered it and will take your word (like I always do) that it is better. I did read up on it and was amazed at how little I knew about other GAC.
That's a shame about the Elos. They did pretty well with the test kits and affordability.
As for the KZ products, I threw my lot into there hands when starting off with the zeovit and have learned a lot from some knowledgeable people like G.Alexander and Bob (Agedsalt). (you would like Bob) They have been pretty straight with me. I have been hammering them with a few questions latley though about products and there actual usage. Getting some good responses and others not.
I see no reason not to change over to a more afordable GAC that has better qualities though. I am a firm beliver in it's usage for water clarity and impurity removal. (especially since removing the UV unit).
Question, What are the white strans in that picture of the Elos GAC? I see this in the KZ also.

 

[Boomer]

I know Alexander and his tanks will be in a new book out this fall I' kinda like an editor ? I do not know Bob but have great respect for Alexander as he does not try not BS one with crap and why I brought him here, IIRC, last year for you guys. You put in as much ROX as the KZ and you will be amazed. I would be careful with ROX as it can pull crap out really fast and there has issues with some that use to much in the beginning where corals may rash, from the drastric shift in the nutrient level. The KZ and Elos can not be as effective as ROX as the pore size will not let it be. The numbers tell you that. Even teh BRS Lignite or TLF Hydrocarbon will beat up both the KZ and Elos M. Even thefilterguys GAC will.

 

[lowfi]

i wonder if any of my local stuff compares to ROX...??? that would be pretty sweet. that rox stuff has to come from somewhere and the technology is obviously out there. im sure that there are multiple companies that produce the same quality carbon but just arent known to aquaria folk. its much easier to put up the money and buy what is known to be good stuff. i will probably just end up getting rox anyway after all of this. cant wait to find out how much the local carbon is bulk!! wooot!

 

[lowfi]

sorry boomer....forgot to mention...is granular carbon OK? I know that rox is a pellet style and the company im looking at does have a pellet style carbon. if i do go with a granular, smaller better for an increase SA?

 

[Boomer]

Sean most pellet carbon is for VPC operation. ROX is a LPC and the Elos and KZ are for both LPC and VPC. Anything bigger than these is for VPC and we should not be using it.

95 % of the GAC in this hobby is granular. 5 %, is pellet and 4.99 % of that 5 % is VPC, a poor choice.

that rox stuff has to come from somewhere and the technology is obviously out there. I'm sure that there are multiple companies that produce the same quality carbon but just arent known to aquaria folk

I introduced it into the hobby more than 10 years ago but could get nobody to sell it. After BRS started to read my post on RC they decide to sell it and the same for their Lignite. It is not a "secret" of what it is, it is American Norit ROX 0.8. There are no companies claiming to a have a carbon superior to ROX. Norit is the biggest GAC company in the world.

I looked at the carbon on the link you gave. I gave you two pdf links to the GAC you should get from them which are great GAC's. The Lignite is a better choice but either is fine and by far better than most GAC in this hobby. That Lignite will out perform either the Elos or KZ. Is eqaul to TLF Hydrocarbaon or BRS Lignite.Their Bitum will out perform any Bitum GAC I know of in this hobby other than thefilterguys Bitum or Martix Bitum and more than likely that also includes better than Elos or KZ

 

[lowfi]

well sweet, ill call em up on the weekday and see how much they want for the stuff! should I ask what type of acid they was the GAC in? phosphoric acid is definitely not what i would like to hear because of the phosphate issues....

 

[lowfi]

hey boomer,

how do you prepare your Rox prior to use in your aquarium? think im going to get some, the 1.5lb bag to see how I like it. how long do you think that will last in my AP24 if changing once a week with WC's? 1/4cup enough? $30 seems like a lot for 1.25lbs of carbon :/ just wondering how long this will last me...

 

[TylerHaworth]

Following along with this, great thread.

 

[Boomer]

lowfi

You lost me, $30 1.24 lbs it is $15 for one 1.25 bound bag. It is ~$30 for **3 lbs**

Prep, just rinse it out with RO/DI water to remove all the or any trapped gases. Any carbon should be well rinsed. If you are putting the carbon in a bag remove the bag once and week and rise well in water, then put it back and change out 1 / month. If it ia a carbon reactor, liike a PhosBan reactor, just leave it in there and change out 1 / m. 1 /4 for starts and slowly raise it to 1/3 cup.

Acid Washed carbon does not use Phosphoric acid but Nitric acid or Hydrochloric acid. Carbons that are activated through chemical activation and not steam activation use phosphoric acid. Those two I picked for you are steam activated and fine to use.

 

[lowfi]

The pricing was with shipping..shouldve probably said that, my bad....:/

Oh boomer, forgot to mention...i called the company and both carbons are selling for $2.50 a pound. HOWEVER, you have to buy a 55 pound sack of it. I just dont think i can spend that kind of change on a sack of carbon. LOL that would be a tonnnnnnnn of carbon.

PS: would the typical lee's aquarium mesh bag's be OK for the fine/small size Rox 0.8? Just wondering if I have to purchase the 100 micron mesh bag...!

Cheers!

 

[TylerHaworth]

I'm going to go ahead and ask my little question.

Boomer, how much of this Rox 0.8 carbon would you recommend I run as a start in my 75 Gallon, and how often would you recommend I change it out if I knead daily?

 

[Frankie]

Yes, any mesh bag made of non corrosive materials will do fine.
I must admit, buying bulk is the way to go. You might have a ton of carbon in stock then, and never fear running out anytime soon. The deal is a good one imo. Being a long term reefer I prefer to buy in bulk and avoid monthly expenses.

 

[Frankie]

I'm going to go ahead and ask my little question.

Boomer, how much of this Rox 0.8 carbon would you recommend I run as a start in my 75 Gallon, and how often would you recommend I change it out if I knead daily?

Is 75 gallons your total net water volume? A lot of people make this mistake and not calculate there water volume but go instead off there aquarium size.
You need to add up all the water in the system, minus out the rock lbs and discover your water volume.
Here is a crappy calculator to use if you are having troubles figuring it out. It will get you close enough to your desired net volume.
Aquarium System Volume Calculator

 

[TylerHaworth]

I'm saying 75 because my DT is a 75 and I calculated my sump to hold approximately 13 gallons of water...

It is just a roundabout rough guess that I am sitting somewhere in the 75G area with rock + sand displacement estimated

Edit: Just used that calculator and it came out to be 80 gallons of total actual water

 

[Frankie]

Nice, Now that you know this it will help in your dosage of other products also.
As I have not yet used Rox, it would be hard for me to say for sure how much you should use for your water volume. I have 200 gals. about and will be using 1 1/2 cups to start off with. Once I see the effects I will adjust from there.

 

[TylerHaworth]

So potentially... Somewhere maybe barely north of 1/2 a cup would be a decent starting point?

 

[reefsmoker]

Frankie did you order from BRS? - the rox .8

 

[Frankie]

I don't know anyone else that does sell it. I have used BRS in the past with good service if that is what you are wondering.

 

[reefsmoker]

O.K i've put the order through 3 pounds on its way - Can't wait!