Carbon & Filter Feeders

[Secam]

The water in my tank was starting to look a little yellow, so for the first time I used carbon. I have a 30 gallon tank and used three table spoons of carbon. I put the carbon in a bag and placed it in a high flow area for one week.

The water cleared nicely but I noticed that my feather dusters all seemed to develop ragged feathers during this week. The week following the feather fell off my Hawaiian feather duster. My two other dusters don't seem to open much any more so I don't know what condition they are in.

Today I noticed that my pumping Xenia had crashed. It seemed to be going great and then it just kind went limp and died.

The feather dusters and the Xenia were put in the tank about 3 months ago. PH, Amonia and nitrites are fine. Nitrates are 10ppm. I put in 1 drop of iodine per week for the Xenias benefit.

The tank is 7 months old. My other corals are doing fine as are the few fish that I have.

So, in a tank that is relatively new, can using carbon mean the difference between having enough food for filter feeders or not? The water is looking a lot cleaner so it must be removing something.

 

[liquid]

Did you happen to wash the carbon first?

Shane

 

[Anonymous]

And I'm hoping it wasn't a type that may have leached phosphates. :x

 

[Secam]

The carbon that I use is from a company called Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. The product is called "Research Grade, Super Activated Carbon". It claims to contain no phosphates.

Does carbon remove useable food rom the water?

 

[liquid]

Yes, it can remove food from the water. My big question still is did you happen to wash the carbon first? Carbon fresh from the bag has a lot of dust to it and it's advised that any time you use carbon to first wash it first. The fine particulates can be irritating to fish and possibly coral.

Shane

 

[Secam]

Sorry, I failed to answer your question the first time. Yes I did wash the carbon in the Nylon bag until the water coming out of it appeared clear.

 

[Anonymous]

I can't imagine that such a small amount of rinsed carbon could cause the reaction you are seeing. I use about a cup or so at a time, and I have have oodles of featherdusters and other filter feeders.

 

[Enzo]

I use to use carbon and polyfilters 24/7 on my tank whille I was cycling. I took it off after I was told to stop using it. All that I notice was that my tank looked cleaner, I had less nuisance algaes, and my feather dusters were booming. I had no problem with using carbon.

 

[reefann]

Yeah I highly doubt it was the carbon. Are they still looking bad? Do all your params check out ok?
JJ
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Mercedes Benz Limousine W126

 

[Lifer]

You could double check the claims of the carbon manufacturer by begining a test for PO4 (phosphate) and throwing in a grain of the carbon to see if it turns blue/bluish. Alot of them use Phosphoric acid to create some of the tiny holes in the carbon and to burn off organic matter. Maybe they skipped around the phosphate issue by using a different type of acid. Check your params too because this is what makes nanos hard.Stability.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you have MH lighting? Another possibility: The increase in clarity of your water allowed more light to hit your inverts, and light shocked them. I seriously doubt this is the case, especially with the dusters, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Even if it was removing a significant amount of food or trace element, one week is far too quick for this type of problem to manifest itself in the corals/dusters. It sounds like some kind of toxin in the water.

 

[Secam]

The water parameters seem to be fine. I have checked for phosphates and they are not detectable.

I did replace my two, 55w power compacts a couple of weeks ago. They were 7 months old. The new lights were the same brand (Coralife) and did appear to be quite a bit brighter. It was the new lights that made me notice the yellow water in the first place.

The Xenia was near the top, about 8" from the lights. The feather dusters are on the bottom, about 18" from the lights.

Could suddenly clear water and new lights have caused this? If so, perhaps I should be replacing my lights more than twice a year.