Activated carbon significantly lowering nitrates !

[tableau]

It is a common affirmation in the hobby that activated carbon has no real utility in a tank, unless someone wants to remove meds. That is why I stop using it years ago. Last week, I added some in my filters and by the end of the week, before my weekly water change, the nitrate level was significantly lower than usual; normaly nitrates goes from 5 ppm to 15 ppm, this week they went from 5 ppm to 10 ppm.​

Does activated carbon reduce nitrates production by lowering DOC ? Someone experienced the same phenomenon ?​

 

[tommy_zito]

i was wondering the same thing. Im using a magnum 350 with the carbon canister inside. and i have yet to even show a nitrate level yet... either that or my test kit is bad, but its only 1 year old..

 

[jcardona1]

I highly doubt it. I suspect the test kit, or your test method.

 

[Miguel]

I do not think it possible.

 

[tableau]

I found this scientific article. Here is the abstract :


"The adsorption effectiveness of bamboo powder charcoal (BPC); made from the residual of Moso bamboo manufacturing; in removing nitrate-nitrogen from water has been investigated. Commercial activated carbon (CAC) was also used to compare the effectiveness of adsorption in removal of nitrate-nitrogen. The adsorption effectiveness of BPC was higher than that of CAC; regardless of the concentration of nitrate-nitrogen; in the range of 0–10 mg/l. The effect of temperature on adsorption by BPC and CAC in the range of 10–20 °C was also investigated. From the results, it was found that the temperature dependency of the adsorption effectiveness of BPC was weaker than that of CAC. This fact indicates that BPC can be an attractive option for the in situ treatment by adsorption of nitrate-nitrogen-contaminated underground and surface water."


MIZUTA et al. (2004). " Removal of nitrate-nitrogen from drinking water using bamboo powder charcoal" , Bioressource Technology, 95 (3), 255-257.