Need an Activated Carbon expert

Icefire

Icefire

Seasoned reefer
I'm looking to start a reef product online store in Canada and I'm directly in contact with a manufacturer of Activated Carbon.

I want to offer 2 grade, a cheap one and an excellent one.

I can't find the post about which type is the best for reef, I can get coal or coconut based AC, an extruded type, some pellet type and 1 acid washed type.

So what to choose to offer some good product at low price? The price I got on 50lbs bag I could easily beat reefbulksupply price for an ROX equiv. in Canada, so..

Here is one that is Acid washed and pretty small (0.5-1.5mm) and look to be a good one

TYPICAL PROPERTIES
Iodine Number, ASTM D-4607 1150 mg/g
Moisture Content, ASTM D-2867 5% Maximum (as packed)
Particle Size, ASTM D-2862 12 x 40 US Mesh
Carbon Tetrachloride Activity, ASTM D3467 52-62%
Dechlorination half-value length, DIN-19603 1.6-1.9
Hardness, ASTM D-3802 97-99%
Abrasion Number, AWWA-B604-96 >94%
Bulk Density, ASTM D-2854 0.48-0.54 g/cc
Total Ash Content, ASTM D-2866 2-3%
2 Surface Area, BET N method, 1200 m2/g
pH Aqueous Extract, ASTM D-3838 6.0-8.0
Trace Capacity Number (TCN) 29-32 mg/g
Water soluble Materials 0.05 - 0.5%
Wettability, EN-12915-1 >/= 99%
Water soluble ash, < 0.5%
 
Boomer is our resident carbon expert (among other things :lol: )

He's out of town but drops in from time to time. If I see him, I'll direct him to your inquiry. :)
 
Ice

That is and Ok " iffy" GAC. But, by the numbers it is not as good as ROX by far. That GAC is more of a VPC, as it has a carbon-tet number, high hardness and high Iodine #. This all indicates, it seems by the numbers, to be a CC, i.e., Coconut GAC. Not a good choice for water ;) All those small pores will plug up way to fast.

The only way you will beat out ROX is if you find a acid washed hardwood GAC ( hard to find and often to soft and dusty). But we will have to look at the numbers still. On the GAC's we want to use we want to see things on the data sheets like Molasses #, Methylene Blue # and Iodine numbers lower than 1000 usually. This tell us what the pore sizes are and thus what size "particles" it will remove. Your data sheet also does not list the Pore Vol.

A number of GAC's in this hobby are 12 x 40 US Mesh but that is to small for some folks. The smaller the particle size, in liquid phase carbon operation, the better it is.


I'm directly in contact with a manufacturer of Activated Carbon.

Are you SURE they ***make*** the GAC or are they just selling it and making the claim they make it. ? Unless you are dealing with Norit or Calgon or one of the small Asian GAC companies then they are just selling it, just a middle man :)
 
molasses number is the most important number, followed by a practical yet efficient size , followed by hardness and ease of rinsing.

the carbon you have above doesn't list the molasses number , the iodine number is high but most of the things we are trying to remove in our aquariums are not small enough for the iodine number to be of major importance.

stay away from coconut and large pellets . large pellets are designed for removing impurities from gasses and perform poorly in fluids.

best bet might to be to call them and ask for some of their best products for removing contaminants from water. Be aware they might just try and sell you what they have to available rather than what is really the best.
 
Last edited:
Nope Billy be leaving a week from this coming Monday. More than lilkely home around that Wednesday or Thursday. IIRC March 5th or 6th
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11918990#post11918990 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Boomer
Nope Billy be leaving a week from this coming Monday. More than lilkely home around that Wednesday or Thursday. IIRC March 5th or 6th
Click to expand...

I hope your plumbing isn't frozen. You've had dreadful weather since you've been gone. :)

Sorry for the hijack, Ice. :D
 
No problem Billy

Boomer, I'm directly in contact with the producer, no middlemen, It's where HAGEN take his carbon.

The producer make coal or coconut shell carbon but only have coconut shell that is acid washed. They sell peletized extruded coal carbon (2/3/4mm size pellet, 3-15mm long)

Here's the specs:

Carbon Tetrachloride Activity, ASTM D-3467 62-72%, 67-68% typical
Moisture Content, ASTM D-2867 5% Max; 2-3% typical
Particle size, ASTM D-2862 7 x 10 US Mesh
Pellet Diameter, 2 mm
Hardness, ASTM D-3802 95-97%
Bulk Density, ASTM D-2854 0.44-0.52 g/cc
Ash Content, ASTM D-2866 8-10%
Iodine Number, ASTM D-4607 1000-1050 mg/g
Surface Area, BET N2, 1100-1250 m2/g
Static Pressure Drop, 1.4" w.g./ft. Carbon @ 50 fpm

Another:

Carbon Tetrachloride Activity, ASTM D-3467 62-68%, 65% typical
Moisture Content, ASTM D-2867 5% Max; 2-3% typical
Particle size, ASTM D-2862 6 x 8 US Mesh
Pellet Diameter, 3 mm
Mean Diameter, 2.5 mm
Hardness, ASTM D-3802 95-97%
Bulk Density, ASTM D-2854 0.44-0.52 g/cc
Ash Content, ASTM D-2866 8-10%
Iodine Number, ASTM D-4607 1000-1050 mg/g
Surface Area, BET N2, 1100-1250 m2/g
Static Pressure Drop, 1.2" w.g./ft. Carbon @ 50 fpm

They also sell big round ball like the matrix carbon that is around 6mm wide.

I'm trying to pick up 2 grade, one excellent and one average.
 
The carbon does not have to be acid washed but it is nice if it is.

All of those palletized extruded coal carbons and large spherical carbons are all designed around VPC (Vapor Phase Carbon) operation and not LPC (Liquid Phase Carbon) operation. Reason, gases and vapors need larger carbon particles due to the low density of the vapor/gas. These gases/vapors just work their way around small particles but travel nicely through large particles. There is less of a "dam effect".

Small particles are for water, as water is more dense and what you may call a fluid, which is more easily driven through the small particles. Water passes through large particles to quickly.

Look for a small " ball" coal carbon, if they have one, maybe around 2 mm and no bigger. You need to look for GAC = Granular Activated Carbon.

All of the carbons you have listed will work but they are all a poor choice for reef tanks or almost any water application, unless you are dealing with ozonated waters in some cases.

You want one excellent and one average. If you look at those in this hobby that I have listed on various forums as the top-10, more or less, none of yours makes that top ten list. Not even your acid washed CC. When it comes to carbon it is pore structure, pore structure and application, application. All else is second.

If you want me to pick one out for PM me your source, so I can see if they have one/two. I have done this for a few :) Where do think ROX came from or where people heard about it :)
 
They do have Liquid phase Granular Activated Carbon, as they sent me a nice pdf file about it.

They don't have a website and they sent some datasheet by email.

I just read the Norit datasheet again, http://www.norit-americas.com/pdf/ROX_08_rev6.pdf , what is different than any of the one I posted? Norit have less Iodine number, same surface area in some case and is just half the size.

So what's so different? They don't talk about Molasse number or anything that would say it's so supperior no?

I'll ask for the complete catalog if they have one. I got about 10 different carbon right now and some a gas some are liquide phase.
 
Ice

That is a newer PDF the older on use to have the Molasses # on it. This GAC is also designed for Ultra Pure Water, another indication of how good it is.


Molasses number: 450 (EUR)

ROX also lists the MB # and indication of application for water and a large amount of medium size pores, something we are looking for. The Molasses # is for large pores and we are mostly trying to remove large and medium sized molecules and the ROX is loaded with them but still has a nice Iodine #. Killing 3 birds with one stone. You will never get these #'s with CC or Bitum Carbons. You can't as it has to do with the raw materials, i.e., Peat, Lignite, Coal, CC, Bone, Wood, Bamboo etc..



Norit have less Iodine number, same surface area in some case and is just half the size.

You need to know how to read the numbers and what they mean. You want a lesser Iodine # usually as it is an indication of very small tight pores. In a reef tank these pores will plug up fast. The carbon #' s like Molasses, Iodine and MB tell you what the pore structure is. Also the kind of GAC tells you what the pores are like , i.e., Peat, Lignite, Coal, CC, Bone, Wood, Bamboo, CC, etc.

and is just half the size.

When you say size do mean the particle size ? You are suppose to be using smaller particles for LPC. I just explained that. One of the best is 12 x 40 mesh.

I might add that those parameters often listed are directed a the application of the GAC. Tetrachloride Activity for example is a VPC application number.
Also many of them do not like to list certain #'s as they are not to good. This is why you rarely if ever see Molasses #'s for a CC carbon. And often Lignite carbons often do not give Tetrachloride Activity.

In short I have been playing worth GAC's for like 40 years and have found nothing as good as the ROX or thefilterguys GAC. They will clear your water faster than anything, other than PAC and that is not just hear-say :)
 
Yes, it is fine but I would rather see people use SeaChem Matix in reactors
 
It is spherical, tumbles better and has a slightly higher abrasion number, all meaning better fluid dynamics.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11929561#post11929561 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Boomer
Yes, it is fine but I would rather see people use SeaChem Matix in reactors
Click to expand...

I use Matrix in my canister filter along with PhoSar GFO. :)
 
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