Rinsing carbon media

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David Gibson

Premium Member
New guy question, but self-study didn't seem to answer for me. I know I need to rinse carbon media, but I didn't know if RO was fine, or if I should rinse it in saltwater, so I went researching. Apparently more than a few people just use tap water to rinse it in. They say it's such a small amount that it doesn't have an effect. Gut reaction is I don't know that I buy that.

What do you guys think? Tap is fine? RO? Salt water from previous water change?
 
I've actually wondered this too... Plus, I've stopped using carbon all together lately because it seems like I can never get enough of the "dust" off and it clouds up my tank. Maybe there's some trick someone will share? :D
 
buy rox carbon from bulk reef supply, it doesnt powder up very bad at all. i too use just tap water and have never seen any ill affect, carbon is really only good in your tank for a couple days anyways if that.
 
I have been running carbon 24/7 for nearly eight years, i can not imagine the lbs. I have rinsed. I put it in the flow through container and I run tap water through it until it runs fairly clear, let it drain and hook it up. And it depends on the amount of carbon in the container you have and how dirty the water is, as to how long it lasts. I usually change it every two weeks.
 
I'm really fascinated by how many people use tap water. In a hobby where we go so far as to drain off the water from frozen food to control nutrients coming into the system, I would have expected tap water to be a no no. Certainly makes things easier to hear empirical evidence that it will be okay to just use tap water though.
 
i know its ok to use tap water but since i have and extra RO container i just fill with carbon and hook it up to the RO/DI and just let it run while im at work then just empty it out to the reactor. the waste water from the canister flows out to my flowers in the front so i dont really waste the water.
 
Carbon absorbs chlorine so that's probably why tap water is OK. I've always used RO though.
 
This how i do it. I put new carbon in my reactor. Turn on the pump with the output hose in a bucket. Then i let a few gallons of saltwater run through it into a bucket. Which in turn changes out a few gallons of saltwater that i add back in after im done. Then i put the output back in sump and let her rock. Simple and effective, at the same time no waste if you time it during a water change. No chlorine, no waste tap or ro/di water.

It should be noted i have a fairly long hose...no pun intented. [smilie=smile.gif]
 
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