Activated Carbon brand

[turtlefish]

I am wondering what brand of activated carbon you all use and which do you think is best? I am currently using Marineland Black Diamond. The pros of it are its cheap in bulk on the internet and it seems to work well. The con is its really dusty.

 

[rohnds]

Activated carbon is simply that carbon. I don't believe that you can find better grade of carbon compared to brands. They are all the same.

Are you changing you carbon on regular basis ... with every water change.

Rohn

 

[rhoymand]

I dont think it matters that much. Ive used black diamond as well and it is a little dusty, but most carbons are. just rinse it before putting it in your filter.

 

[GIS Guy]

I have been using Aquarium Pharmaceuticals up until recently. AP is way too dusty. It always seemed like half the carbon washed down the drain and took 1/2 an hour to rinse.

I have since switched to Marineland Black Diamond. This is much cleaner. Less is washed away which means I am buying more for the $$. I am sticking with Marineland from now on.

 

[turtlefish]

Activated carbon is alot more complicated than most people think. Not all brands are the same and in fact they differ greatly. Granular and pelletized are the two types, one is less dusty than the other, I just cant remember right now. The pore sizes are different, densities, total surface area, base material ect.
I was just wondering what brands you used, although marineland is good its still kinda dusty for me. It seems to be cheap compared to the other top brands like seachem and kent.

 

[hyunelan2]

Most all carbon you buy is going to be dusty. It's in the nature of the material. As each grain rubs against one another, they create dust. Some are less dusty by the care of packaging, or pre-rinsing - but no matter what you get, a simple rinse under water will remove the dust.

 

[turtlefish]

I was wondering since rinsing removes alot of dust how much of the carbon's capacity would it take away? Tap water contains alot of things carbon absorbs. It takes at least 5 minutes of rinsing to get the thing clean and by then i fear lots of the capacity will be gone.

 

[FroggyFox]

I wouldn't worry about it....seeing as many people who keep FW tanks dont even use carbon on a regular basis in the first place, and you can leave it running in your tank for weeks at a time before its "used up".