Bamboo Charcoal

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Andyroo

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Apr 17, 2011
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MoBay, Jamaica
www.seascapecarib.com
All,
My bamboo charcoal supplier is interested in developing to export as aquarium filtration media, though also as orchid base and/or whatever other uses might occur for high-porosity, specific/uniform shaped chunks (of Carbon). Bird/herp/bug terrarium substrate? It'd certainly look groovy in the jet-black and would soak up stink.

Me, I love the stuff for the filters as it's got a huge SA without much weight. It takes a little while to sink and the is maybe a little too good at filtering for the first little while, but once sunk & established there's heaps of surface area in the interlocking segments & it's tougher than you might expect, lasts for years in sump or canister.

Thoughts? Comments? Connections/introductions?

My stake? The bigger her production the cheaper it will be for me locally :)

Apologies, I tried to put this into the buy&sell section, but couldn't fill the necessary fields. Mods, please feel free to relocate.

Regards,
 
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Might be interested in this if it was relatively cheap versus other charcoal products already here on the shelves locally
 
DrownedFishonFire DrownedFishonFire , thanks for input, that's good - everything & anything is helpful at this point.
Could you give me an idea of price for these current products? How much for an Lb or for a 1'x1' package?

I'm thinking the bamboo shape might be more useful to the likes of us than the charcoal's chem-capture activities; thinking cut into quarter-cylindar at 6' long, or various diameters & lengths (<6") so they won't interlock. As such, they've be in competition with Bioballs & ceramic rings & pumice/lava stone, but with "green" and chemical kickers and light-weight, so easier/cheeper to ship & store.

Thanks again.
Curious to hear more thoughts & opinions.
GO!
;)
 
I'm not a user of charcoal/carbon so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

You seem to be suggesting it as a competitor for media that are used for biological filtration, as well as a chemical medium. I think you would need to check into this a bit further. I have heard that carbon can, once saturated, begin to leach some of the adsorbed compounds back into the water. Can't say for sure, but it seems reasonable. If true, it might raise concerns when also used as a biological medium, which is typically permanent. If it is liable to release pollutants back into the water at a later date, it limits its usefulness as a biomedia, i.e. changing it periodically to keep it chemically safe will involve re-seeding and populating the new batch with a colony of beneficial bacteria.

And, am I understanding correctly that this product would be in big cylindrical chunks of various lengths? This would definitely not allow as much to be used per unit of available volume in the filter compartment. Smaller, gravel-like pieces would allow more to be packed into any given space.

Finally...how, exactly, is it "a little too good at filtering for the first little while"?
 
Thanks jjohnwm jjohnwm - it absolutely does start to re-emit absorbed chem back into the water, but that assumes you (aquarist) started with toxic water - I think these queries were brought forward for public (develoing world) potable water treatment & carried by suppliers & shops with 'programmed redundancy' in mind. As aquarists we may start with a dab of chlorine (unless you're in Michigan), but once that's treated we're starting with relatively good water. As such, the things being absorbed in that short-term are the usual suspects of nitrogenous wastes, which woudl then be broken-down by the adjacenet "good" bacteria as they might be re-released. Personally, I leave this/my charcoal in the system for years (plus erosion top-up), or at least until I need the prepared/enriched substrate for the wife's orchids & Xmas cactus. It breaks down more slowly than one would expect. Having said all of this, saturation/breakdown may offer a pulsed re-release beyond what bacteria can't handle - we'll look into that, thanks.

We're thinking to offer as a bag/box of mixed 3-6" segments of quarters to the cylinder, but can certainly offer as smaller/larger mean per-bag size, like they do frozen prawns. My thought is that variations in length + natural diameter should keep it from interlocking to impede through-flow.

By "a little too good" i mean that we had Dynoflagelate & then Cyanobacteria outbreaks in the the early days/weeks of the 240, suggesting imbalances that I'd never had before and attribute to the charcoal; as a grass & may have offered Silica for the former. These can & were dealt with with septic system additives & almond leaves, but otherwise are primarily an aesthetic issue & work themselves out over a couple of weeks... plus snails, RBS, scuds, oscracods etc.

Thanks - this is good.
MORE, please
 
By "a little too good" i mean that we had Dynoflagelate & then Cyanobacteria outbreaks in the the early days/weeks of the 240, suggesting imbalances that I'd never had before and attribute to the charcoal; as a grass & may have offered Silica for the former.

Some activated carbons do contain large amounts of phosphates, so that may have been an issue.

I suppose long term, with enough carbon in the system the adsorbancy(Is that a word?) would serve more as a buffer. Absorb any spikes in chemicals, and raise any dips. Overall fairly neutral.
 
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