activated carbon

[moze229]

Hello all

I was doing some thinking today and I came up with something I think MIGHT make sense but I need some opinions/criticisms. My tank running fow about a month and a half, just completed it's cycle and I am currently going through the diatom bloom. This is partially due to me curing the LR in the tank. At any rate, I know that the diatoms feed off nutrients in the water. Would adding activated carbon just for a few days help speed up the process of the bloom or should I just continue to wait it out? I was thinking that perhaps the carbon would help remove some of the nutrients along with my skimmer to help speed the process. Anyone ever tried this with success? Any suggestions would help. I am using RO/DI water. TIA

[tlc]

carbon may be beneficial in pulling out some nasty organics during the cycle. i would not use to much. carbon does not discriminate between good and bad. i would also be inclined to run a silicate remover. diatoms feed on silicate. when my tank was first set up i thought the diatom bloom would never end. i tested for silicate and it was a little high. added some silicate remover and whoila!!! the diatoms where gone then it was off to stage two ( hair algae ), then stage 3 (cyano), then stage 4 ( valonia ) still battling, then stage 5 (aiptasia invasion) still battling, this hobby can be so much fun. but it is worth all the hastle to stare at a few brighty colored sticks in a mass of water. got to love the challenge. good luck...

[moze229]

Thanks for the reply! I was wondering though, I figure all of or most of the silicates would be removed by the RO/DI? Or would this not be the case?

[tlc]

i think silicates were introduced into my tank via some live sand and live rock, regardless, a diatom bloom is quite natural in a fresh tank. i would still check for silicates. in addition when your tank is done curing start adding an appropriate clean up crew. this will help consume your diatoms . diatoms are food for many clean up species. diatoms are always in our tanks. they are just being consumed before they become overwhelming. go slow with additions. new tanks take time to cycle and acclimate.

[organicreefer]

call me old school-i run carbon (passively-bag in sump) all the time -change it out about every couple-few months.

[moze229]

I decided to go ahead and run some activated carbon for just a couple of days to see if it helps at all. It should pull some of the crap out of the water that this stuff is feeding on. I hooked it up last night and it seems that it's taken the smell out of the water. Looks a little clearer too. The skimmer is not nearly as active today. I used to run the carbon at all times too, but now with the DSB and LR, I shouldn't have to according to all of the reading I've been doing. I'll keep chugging away at it and see what happens!