Zoas reacting poorly to activated carbon

[Redseadragon12]

Hey guys,

Today I decided to add some activated carbon to the aquarium (16g) I put .5 cups in a floss bag washed it out well and added it to the rear compartment of the tank. Now immediately after all of my zoanthids have closed up some are partially opened. Is there some sort of adverse reactions zoas have to carbon?

I also added some ceramic media balls to the rear chamber at the same time and washed them well.

Can either of these alter water chemistry?

I know AC absorbs organics.. can these be organic acids and change the pH or alkalinity abruptly? Any experience with this will be appreciated.

 

[Redseadragon12]

Also as a side note I did purchase this carbon off of Ebay hopefully its not contaminated or something.

 

[A. Grandis]

OHHH...
Ebay carbon?
Hummm...
I was going to ask you what carbon is that.
You need to have a brand name for us.

I usually recommend the 0.8 ROX from BulkReef.
That's the one I use and never had problems.

GAC removes organics from the water, yes.
The changes in organic load could affect pH a bit, but normally the use of a good GAC doesn't give you any trouble like that. What pH changes did you notice? How much?

Why did you add GAC to the system?
5 cups is a lot!!! How big is the system?

What ceramic media balls are those?
Why did you add them?

Grandis.

 

[Redseadragon12]

Thanks Grandis again for the help you are a life saver.

I purchased both the carbon and bioballs from an online vendor on ebay no brand unfortunately. Should have gone with bulkreefsupply for sure. Wont make that mistake again. I believe the issue could be with the excess dust or something even though I washed them for at least 30 mins.

I tested the pH before and after and did not notice a change It was at 7.9 both before and after. Alk is also stable so I guess it must be something else.

Only added 1/2 cup of carbon to the 16 gallon tank.

 

[Redseadragon12]

I added the carbon because I had a small amount of zoanthids die in the tank and also some cyanobacteria present. the bioballs added for the same reason to increase the bioload support.

 

[A. Grandis]

You're welcome!
Well, the pH wasn't changed then. The carbon must have something in it or extra, extra dust... Some of the cheapest GAC have too much phosphates too, so when there is not even a brand name we shouldn't get it.

The problem with cyanobacteria can be solved with the selection of food and water changes, if bioload is higher than it should. Sometimes a little more water flow helps, but it isn't directly related to the chemistry and the presence of cyano, of course. The water flow helps to prevent a heavy settling of the mat. The chemistry always needs to be addressed.

A good GAC will definitely help with cyano. I would remove the one you've got, specially if there is no brand (!!!), and get the ROX from BulkReef. I would also do a 5 - 10% water change to help remove anything that carbon had, if so.

IMO the biolballs should be removed too, because you don't really know what is wrong (GAC or bioballs?).

Most of the time we won't need those bioballs to help the biological filtration. Unless you've got too many fishes in the system and only a little rock/sand available for the bacteria. Too many fishes for the size tank will also need more than usual partial water changes to keep the balance of nutrients, as we know.

Another excellent carbon is ChemiPure.
You should consider that, specially if you feel there is any toxin left in the tank.

Make sure there is no drastic changes on the water clarity. If the tank's water was yellowish/greenish and the GAC pull lots of the color from the water at once that could shock the zoas/corals because of the change on spectrum (bleaching also could occur!). It acts as changing the bulbs.
Good luck!

Grandis.

 

[Redseadragon12]

Thanks! I removed the GAC and bioballs things seem to back to normal just waiting on the chemiclean on monday to whipe out this cyano bacteria. The cyano is not growing from excess nutrients it is actually eating the zoanthids flesh. It is only growing around the base of zoanthids and slowly grows over the polyps at which point I have to remove it. Ive noticed several frag plugs detatching as if the cyano is eating them clean off the frag plug but the polyp is still alive. Very annoying anyways hopefully monday this will be remedied.

 

[Redseadragon12]

Guess it may actually be dinoflagellates hard to tell. Whichever it is, it is very resilient.

 

[A. Grandis]

Try remove the excess syphoning them out while performing weekly partial water changes.
Nutrient control after they are gone!!:thumbsup:

Grandis.