Carbon treatment and alike

alemone

Member
Is anybody aware of any specific data on the benefits of carbon or Purigen? I don't mean "years of experience", "traditions", etc. Hard data showing certain undesired substances are removed.
 
Is anybody aware of any specific data on the benefits of carbon or Purigen? I don't mean "years of experience", "traditions", etc. Hard data showing certain undesired substances are removed.

I know there was an article years ago comparing activated carbon to protein skimming that included actual DOC data, etc but a quick google search did not yield it. It was in the 20yrs ago range so I am not sure how detailed the specifics were. If I find it, I will link it.
 
Ken Felderman articles on Advanced Aquaria about carbon dosing and protein skimmers also show that activated carbon absorbs 15 fold increase in efficiency for absorbing DOC (dissolved organic carbon)., There is plenty of data on line showing what activated carbon removes. Google search shows abundant info

https://reefs.com/magazine/bacterial...on-filtration/

Bacterial Counts in Reef Aquarium Water: Baseline Values and Modulation by Carbon Dosing, Protein Skimming, and Granular Activated Carbon Filtration


by Ken S. Feldman | Mar 3, 2011 | Advanced Aquarist, Advanced Aquarist | 0 comments

Departments of Chemistry (Ken S. Feldman, Allison A. Place) and Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (Sanjay Joshi), The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, and Route 66 Marine, Gardena, California (Gary White)
 
Yes. Thank you. In the context of its topic, the article mosty looks at activated carbon as a mechanical filter. It showed no benefits.

The section on GAC details that activated carbon removes 15 fold more DOC than protein skimmers. DOC in not mechanical, it’s chemical and it includes thousands of organic compounds. which include phenols & turpins.
 
The section on GAC details that activated carbon removes 15 fold more DOC than protein skimmers. DOC in not mechanical, it’s chemical and it includes thousands of organic compounds. which include phenols & turpins.

They do say that. The study however looks only at the mechanical filtering out of bacteria by the activated carbon vs a skimmer. It did not examine DOC.
 
They do say that. The study however looks only at the mechanical filtering out of bacteria by the activated carbon vs a skimmer. It did not examine DOC.

Bacteria absorb DOC and are actively removed by protein skimmers as a nutrient export mechanism. You are right about this Felderman article did not detail DOC, my bad. He does in other articles. However, let me provide this link which is specific to activated carbon. While somewhat dated at 20 years there are ample footnotes to glean what you wish.

https://melevsreef.com/articles/carb...-part-1-repost

In a more recent article, Hovanec (1998) states flatly that “the best carbon for use in water filtration for removing dissolved organic carbons is bituminous coal-based carbon.” He also comments about the decline in use of coconut carbon, stating that “coconut carbons have the wrong pore size for filtering the target materials from water.”
 
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Bacteria absorb DOC and are actively removed by protein skimmers as a nutrient export mechanism. You are right about this Felderman article did not detail DOC, my bad. He does in other articles. However, let me provide this link which is specific to activated carbon. While somewhat dated at 20 years there are ample footnotes to glean what you wish.

https://melevsreef.com/articles/carb...-part-1-repost

In a more recent article, Hovanec (1998) states flatly that “the best carbon for use in water filtration for removing dissolved organic carbons is bituminous coal-based carbon.” He also comments about the decline in use of coconut carbon, stating that “coconut carbons have the wrong pore size for filtering the target materials from water.”

This is an interesting article. Thank you. It's interesting to see how much various brands can differ.
 
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