That pesky carbon

[iwishtofish]

I'm wondering if anyone rinses their carbon first, like in a wire strainer under tap or RO/DI, before putting it into their carbon reactor. I'm thinking this might get it really, really clean first, and maybe weed out tiny grains.

Good/bad idea?

 

[Orcrone]

I actually thought it was common practice to rinse carbon, otherwise a lot of dust winds up in the DT. I use a net and tap water and rinse until the water runs off clear.

 

[nanojg]

Yes, you should rinse carbon until it runs clean before putting it into your system. Some claim the dust can cause some deseases in fish.

 

[iwishtofish]

Well, actually, I was initially planning to rinse it by flushing it in the reactor, which I believe is the common practice. I'm just wondering if anyone rinses it first, and then puts it into the reactor...

 

[allsps40]

Flushing in the reactor with RODI water is the best way IMO. It gets more out than the net method, I used it forever but some dust was still left. Tap water should not be used because it uses up the carbon. Tap water has all kinds of crap in it that carbon will remove, RODI units have carbon filter for a reason. So rinsing carbon in tap water will use up some of the carbon before it even makes it in the tank.

 

[Orcrone]

Flushing in the reactor with RODI water is the best way IMO. It gets more out than the net method, I used it forever but some dust was still left. Tap water should not be used because it uses up the carbon. Tap water has all kinds of crap in it that carbon will remove, RODI units have carbon filter for a reason. So rinsing carbon in tap water will use up some of the carbon before it even makes it in the tank.

Good point. I doubt tap water uses much of its life, but I'll start using RO/DI to rinse.

 

[rtparty]

I have always used tap water to rinse my carbon. Been doing it for 6 years that way and never had an issue. The water is rushing over the carbon so fast that the carbon isn't catching much.

Plus I only run carbon for about 2 weeks a month. I have seen no need to run it 24/7. It can start removing things we want in the tank IMO.

I have read that carbon eventually becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and the bacteria will block all the pores anyways. I doubt we ever come close to fully exhausting carbon in our tanks.

 

[allsps40]

Well my tap water is 500tds and you can smell the chlorine in it so I stay away from getting it in or on anything that goes into my reef these days.

 

[kissman]

I put the carbon in my reactor hook it up and pump the first half gallon into a bucket and its clean by then.

 

[rgh69]

I put the carbon in my reactor hook it up and pump the first half gallon into a bucket and its clean by then.

Good idea, I can do the same when I do a water change.

 

[iwishtofish]

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I didn't plan very well when I installed the drain lines on my reactors; I barely have enough length for them to reach out of the stand and into a drain bucket. It definitely sounds easiest to rinse the carbon by flushing it in the reactor during a water change.