Reusing Carbon?

[jamesdong009]

Instead of using baking soda in my fridge and freezer, I use carbon.

My question is, could I reuse this in my tank when I replace the carbon in the fridge and freezer?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Is it aquarium GAC? The process of optimizing GAC for use in air is different than for use in water.

That said, some of the organic molecules that are bound to it from the fridge may be displaced in the tank, so it will have some capacity, but also may release much of what was bound in the fridge. Some of the bound molecules won't come off, so you will have lost some capacity for that reason.

 

[jbishop]

Is it aquarium GAC? The process of optimizing GAC for use in air is different than for use in water.

That said, some of the organic molecules that are bound to it from the fridge may be displaced in the tank, so it will have some capacity, but also may release much of what was bound in the fridge. Some of the bound molecules won't come off, so you will have lost some capacity for that reason.

Would this cause the TDS in tank to increase? If so I wouldn't chance reusing it in the tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

As I mentioned, there is the potential for the odors (organics) that absorbed onto the GAC to be released into the tank water. Whether that is a concern or not, I do not know.

But just to be clear, TDS is not a measure of the purity of seawater. TDS is a measure of ions in the water, and seawater has a TDS of several tens of thousands of ppm TDS (the exact value depends on the TDS scale used).

 

[jbishop]

As I mentioned, there is the potential for the odors (organics) that absorbed onto the GAC to be released into the tank water. Whether that is a concern or not, I do not know.

But just to be clear, TDS is not a measure of the purity of seawater. TDS is a measure of ions in the water, and seawater has a TDS of several tens of thousands of ppm TDS (the exact value depends on the TDS scale used).

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You're welcome.

Happy reefing.

 

[jbishop]

You're welcome.

Happy reefing.

You too. You wouldn't happen to be a chemist would you

 

[jamesdong009]

Thanks for the input. I was hoping you would chime in Randy .

I understand that the carbon would lose its effectiveness (or even be effective at all), but wonder what the effects of the released organics would be.

Guess I'll give it a shot and see what happens.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would not guess it is a big problem.. No one has ever reported their tank suffering from nearby food smells before.

 

[JayM]

if they did, the tank in my kitchen would reek of garlic and olive oil