Carbon question
- Thread starter shrimpin
- Start date
Carbon does not usually help with cloudiness; rather, it helps to remove any yellowing to the water (or any kind of color tint). If you have cloudy water, there could be several reasons:
1) you could have fine particles floating around, in which case some fine filter material would help that, like fine floss or micron cartridges that are often included with canister filters. It could result from something continually stirring the sand or blowing it around, etc.
2) a bacterial bloom, in which case, simply do water changes and give it time. You can't really filter it out. A UV sterilizer can also remedy this problem, but it is an expensive solution. Thorough protein skimming can also make a difference.
3) microbubbles, as the name suggests, can also be a problem if you have a high flow through in your sump or a leak in any plumbing.
1) you could have fine particles floating around, in which case some fine filter material would help that, like fine floss or micron cartridges that are often included with canister filters. It could result from something continually stirring the sand or blowing it around, etc.
2) a bacterial bloom, in which case, simply do water changes and give it time. You can't really filter it out. A UV sterilizer can also remedy this problem, but it is an expensive solution. Thorough protein skimming can also make a difference.
3) microbubbles, as the name suggests, can also be a problem if you have a high flow through in your sump or a leak in any plumbing.
I use a small 'media bag' i bought at my local fish store, and fill it with carbon, compact it and rinse it till it doesn't put off black water and then stick it in an area of good flow.
In sump would work, albeit much less efficiently. Also, you'd have to add comparably more for it to be as effective if you just float it in sump.
There aren't any hard and fast rules. People use varying amounts. What I would recommend is using enough to get the job done (takes some experimentation) but not so much to exhaust your supply too quickly. If you find you need a lot for it to work, then I suggest getting a canister filter and forcing water through it.
There aren't any hard and fast rules. People use varying amounts. What I would recommend is using enough to get the job done (takes some experimentation) but not so much to exhaust your supply too quickly. If you find you need a lot for it to work, then I suggest getting a canister filter and forcing water through it.
Yes, agree with Amp that the passive flow won't be anywhere near as effective as forced flow through a canister would be. And it won't really do much about the fine dusty particles in the water column. I get those too thanks to my goby.
This might work well for you and a lot cheaper than a canister I think. This was done submitted for a DIY contest but not by myself
This was a design based as most are, upon need. I wanted an easy to use, inexpensive way to run many diffrent filter medias on my system effectively.
I chose to use this cast acrylic canister that I had spotted at Walmarts a few months earlier.
Then with a bit of trial and error developed this final design. It is simple to build and requires no special tools or materials. All that is required to complete one of these canisters is the following.
One Mainstay's Home - Acrylic Large Canister 74oz
(from Walmart UPC:86348 19110)
One 1/2" CPVC 90 degree elbow fitting
Two 1/2" CPVC 45 degree fittings
Approximately 18" 1/2" CPVC Pipe.
Approximately 18" 1/2" CPVC Pipe.
One 150 - 200gph pump (RIO 600 works well.)
One 6" x 12" piece of "egg crate" light diffuser.
A 5/8" spade drill bit.
Multipurpose PVC cement.
Additionaly: One peice of Craft Fabric (plastic grid "fabric" commonly used for needle point) choose the grid size based uppon the media you intend to use with the canister. Large grid for carbon and or floss and smaller grid for phosban.
Once you have gathered the materials the first step is to mark and drill the holes for the input and output tubes. The input hole needs to be centered about 1" up from the bottom. The output hole needs to be about 3/4" down from the top metal ring and offset slightly from the input so that they won't interfere with each other when you plum them up.. Resist the urge to put the output in the lid of the canister. Although it may work, I'm not sure how well the lid seal will hold up if there is eve an obstruction in the output line. Doing it this way limits the pressure on the seal thus making sure you will remain leak free.
Once you have marked the locations, you can carefully begin drilling. Make sure to leave the lid latched in place, this adds strength and will help prevent cracking. Also, when you choose the drill bit for this project, get one that has the little points on the outer edges so that like the point in the center that guides the bit, they pre-cut the outside edges making for a very clean hole. SInce we are using 1/2 CPVC pipe a 5/8" bit is perfect for this and allows the pipe to fit snugly into the hole helping to create a watertight seal once glued.
Apply only enough pressure to keep the bit moving, Do not try and mussel the bit through or you will cause the plastic to crack or worse yet break. Once you have successfully drilled your two holes you are ready to install you inlet and outlet piping. You will need to cut three peices of 1/2" CPVC pipe about 1 1/4" in length, 1 90 degree elbow, 2 45 degree fittings, and one female pipe coupling. First you will need to use a saw and cut about 1/2" off of each end of the coupling. The resulting "rings" will be used on the inside of the canister to help with the seal. Dry fit the peices to ensure that you have a tight fit and understand how they will best fit together. This is also the time to decide upon what direction you would like the fitting to point once glued. With a little creativity this design can be quite flexible, I use mine sitting up in th edge of my sump, but it could be just as easily configured to hang on the side, or sit remotely. But now is the time to make that decision, because once it is glued, you are committed.
For the inlet (bottom), using pvc cement, glue one of the 1 1/4" peices of CPVC pipe to the elbow, make sure that there is a bit of excess glue so that it is pushed up the pipe by the fitting. While the glue is still wet push the pipe into the hole in the canister squeezing the excess glue into the hole and out arround the fittting. Now apply PVC cement to one of the "rings" and slide it onto the pipe from the inside of the canister and hold pressure on the ring and fitting squeezing the canister wall between them for a couple of miniutes untill the glue begins to set.
Repeat these steps with the outlet pipe using instead one of the 45 degree elbow, the second 45 degree fitting and remaining peice of cpvc pipe will be used to complete the 90 degree turn. This completes the plumbing portion of the canister. Please let the glue dry for 24 hours to properly bond the pvc to the acrylic and reach the proper strength before you attempt to use it. The final part is the media riser, Because the the inlet is on the side we need to lift the media off the bottom of the canister to be most effective. I did this by making a small platform from scrap peices of "egg crate" light diffuser. I cut on piece just large enough to fit inside of the canister and then added two small pieces to act as leggs. The leggs are then glued to the large piece using pvc cement, This works well as long as you allow 24 hours drying time. once this is done and has dried, you can then place it into the bottom of the canister.
You will want to cut 2 pieces of filter floss / sponge the diameter of the canister. A better alternitive is the needle point backer pictured. It can be bought at craft stores and is great for carbon and other large media. But the floss/sponge will still be needed for the finer media like phosban. One will go on top of the media riser and the second can be used on top of the media (like phosban) to help keep it from escaping into the tank.
And here is the completed canister, ready for final plumbing and pump. The pump I am currently using on mine is a RIO 600 that I happened to have laying around, but any low flow pump about 100gph will work great. You could venture as high as 200gph but I thing a lower flow gives the media more time to do it's job properly. Now a great pump to use is the 180gph pump that Harbor Freight sells, It is often on sale for $9.99 and is a great little utility pump with a ceramic shaft. This is a quick and easy DIY project that cost me less than $10 and a couple hours work. I now have an easy way to run whatever media I need and the flip top lid makes cleaning and changing media a snap. Yes the clips and rings for the lid are metal, however I have had one in operation for nine months with no visible signs of corrosion.
I run one as a dedicated Carbon canister, and a second one is regularly rotated between Phosban and Floss for polishing. With a little imagination the uses this could be put to are nearly endless. I have even used one with carbon and bio balls as an emergency QT filter. I just keep a handfull of bioballs floating in my sump and pull them out for use when needed. Since they are non porus, they can be cleaned with bleach and re-used even when exposed to medications Even copper can be cleaned off by running the canister in a bath of dilute muriatic acid for 10 minutes. So with this one tool you get a quick, easy and inexpensive way to solve many problems we face in this diverse hobby of ours.
This was a design based as most are, upon need. I wanted an easy to use, inexpensive way to run many diffrent filter medias on my system effectively.
I chose to use this cast acrylic canister that I had spotted at Walmarts a few months earlier.
Then with a bit of trial and error developed this final design. It is simple to build and requires no special tools or materials. All that is required to complete one of these canisters is the following.
One Mainstay's Home - Acrylic Large Canister 74oz
(from Walmart UPC:86348 19110)
One 1/2" CPVC 90 degree elbow fitting
Two 1/2" CPVC 45 degree fittings
Approximately 18" 1/2" CPVC Pipe.
Approximately 18" 1/2" CPVC Pipe.
One 150 - 200gph pump (RIO 600 works well.)
One 6" x 12" piece of "egg crate" light diffuser.
A 5/8" spade drill bit.
Multipurpose PVC cement.
Additionaly: One peice of Craft Fabric (plastic grid "fabric" commonly used for needle point) choose the grid size based uppon the media you intend to use with the canister. Large grid for carbon and or floss and smaller grid for phosban.
Once you have gathered the materials the first step is to mark and drill the holes for the input and output tubes. The input hole needs to be centered about 1" up from the bottom. The output hole needs to be about 3/4" down from the top metal ring and offset slightly from the input so that they won't interfere with each other when you plum them up.. Resist the urge to put the output in the lid of the canister. Although it may work, I'm not sure how well the lid seal will hold up if there is eve an obstruction in the output line. Doing it this way limits the pressure on the seal thus making sure you will remain leak free.
Once you have marked the locations, you can carefully begin drilling. Make sure to leave the lid latched in place, this adds strength and will help prevent cracking. Also, when you choose the drill bit for this project, get one that has the little points on the outer edges so that like the point in the center that guides the bit, they pre-cut the outside edges making for a very clean hole. SInce we are using 1/2 CPVC pipe a 5/8" bit is perfect for this and allows the pipe to fit snugly into the hole helping to create a watertight seal once glued.
Apply only enough pressure to keep the bit moving, Do not try and mussel the bit through or you will cause the plastic to crack or worse yet break. Once you have successfully drilled your two holes you are ready to install you inlet and outlet piping. You will need to cut three peices of 1/2" CPVC pipe about 1 1/4" in length, 1 90 degree elbow, 2 45 degree fittings, and one female pipe coupling. First you will need to use a saw and cut about 1/2" off of each end of the coupling. The resulting "rings" will be used on the inside of the canister to help with the seal. Dry fit the peices to ensure that you have a tight fit and understand how they will best fit together. This is also the time to decide upon what direction you would like the fitting to point once glued. With a little creativity this design can be quite flexible, I use mine sitting up in th edge of my sump, but it could be just as easily configured to hang on the side, or sit remotely. But now is the time to make that decision, because once it is glued, you are committed.
For the inlet (bottom), using pvc cement, glue one of the 1 1/4" peices of CPVC pipe to the elbow, make sure that there is a bit of excess glue so that it is pushed up the pipe by the fitting. While the glue is still wet push the pipe into the hole in the canister squeezing the excess glue into the hole and out arround the fittting. Now apply PVC cement to one of the "rings" and slide it onto the pipe from the inside of the canister and hold pressure on the ring and fitting squeezing the canister wall between them for a couple of miniutes untill the glue begins to set.
Repeat these steps with the outlet pipe using instead one of the 45 degree elbow, the second 45 degree fitting and remaining peice of cpvc pipe will be used to complete the 90 degree turn. This completes the plumbing portion of the canister. Please let the glue dry for 24 hours to properly bond the pvc to the acrylic and reach the proper strength before you attempt to use it. The final part is the media riser, Because the the inlet is on the side we need to lift the media off the bottom of the canister to be most effective. I did this by making a small platform from scrap peices of "egg crate" light diffuser. I cut on piece just large enough to fit inside of the canister and then added two small pieces to act as leggs. The leggs are then glued to the large piece using pvc cement, This works well as long as you allow 24 hours drying time. once this is done and has dried, you can then place it into the bottom of the canister.
You will want to cut 2 pieces of filter floss / sponge the diameter of the canister. A better alternitive is the needle point backer pictured. It can be bought at craft stores and is great for carbon and other large media. But the floss/sponge will still be needed for the finer media like phosban. One will go on top of the media riser and the second can be used on top of the media (like phosban) to help keep it from escaping into the tank.
And here is the completed canister, ready for final plumbing and pump. The pump I am currently using on mine is a RIO 600 that I happened to have laying around, but any low flow pump about 100gph will work great. You could venture as high as 200gph but I thing a lower flow gives the media more time to do it's job properly. Now a great pump to use is the 180gph pump that Harbor Freight sells, It is often on sale for $9.99 and is a great little utility pump with a ceramic shaft. This is a quick and easy DIY project that cost me less than $10 and a couple hours work. I now have an easy way to run whatever media I need and the flip top lid makes cleaning and changing media a snap. Yes the clips and rings for the lid are metal, however I have had one in operation for nine months with no visible signs of corrosion.
I run one as a dedicated Carbon canister, and a second one is regularly rotated between Phosban and Floss for polishing. With a little imagination the uses this could be put to are nearly endless. I have even used one with carbon and bio balls as an emergency QT filter. I just keep a handfull of bioballs floating in my sump and pull them out for use when needed. Since they are non porus, they can be cleaned with bleach and re-used even when exposed to medications Even copper can be cleaned off by running the canister in a bath of dilute muriatic acid for 10 minutes. So with this one tool you get a quick, easy and inexpensive way to solve many problems we face in this diverse hobby of ours.