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Using Activated Carbon in a Freshwater Aquarium

The quality of carbon is typically measured by ash content, iodine number, and molasses number. It is important to have a carbon material with a good mixture of both large and small pores to catch pollutants. If the surface has many tiny pores (micro-porous carbon) then the pores will not be large enough to let pollutants to enter them. On the other hand, if the total surface area contains mostly large pores (macro-porous carbon) then there will not be very many chemical bonding sites. >

Quality of the carbon
Make sure you buy quality activated carbon. Cheap carbon often contains a great deal of ash, and will become deactivated (meaning that it stops removing compounds) very quickly. Another important thing is if you use carbon with a lot of ashes in water, these ashes will start floating and make it look dirty.
When it comes to freshwater aquarium filtration, there are many options to choose from. One of the most popular filtration methods involves activated carbon filter media. Yet, using carbon in a freshwater aquarium is a controversial subject. Some people believe it is a waste of time and never use carbon except for special occasions. Others use a great deal of carbon and hope to polish the water and remove odours.

As a fish lover, I always do the best to keep my tank as clean as possible. I tried both ways, with or without activated carbon. After failures and trails, I can say if use properly, carbondoes polish the water and remove odours effectively. Sure, you may continue to insist the anti-carbon point of view,butif you decide to use carbon, there are several things you need to know in order to achieve the optimal aquarium.

Read next for more tips to perfect your aquarium setup.

Matter and energy

The Best Water Filter Options

Then, Distilled Water?
Recognized by the EPA as the best option for removing chemicals, quality carbon filters remove VOCs, pesticides, bacteria, fluoride, heavy metals, and parasites. Most can safely transform any type of water into safe drinking water.

A big plus for carbon filters is that they seem to be the least expensive in the long run and require the fewest filter replacements. They also hold naturally occurring minerals from the water, making it the best tasting filtered water option, in my opinion.

Conclusion: This is what I personally use now.Amazingly, carbon filters are very inexpensive per gallon cost and need infrequent filter replacement. Portable options can even be used while traveling.From my research, this is the best option for removing contaminants without removing necessary minerals, while keeping a good taste.

Then, Distilled Water?
The distillation process heats the water to become steam. The steam is then cooled toturn back into liquid, leaving behind many contaminants. Distillation reduces large particles like heavy metals but does not remove some other contaminants like VOCs or chemicals that disrupt hormones.
<>bConclusion: It removes a large amount of contaminants, and heavy metals. But it does not reduce VOCs and other hormone disruptors. Home distillation systems are also expensive and consume too much electricity. Overall, it’s better than bottled water but definitely not the best option out there.

I got a lot of emails and questions about the healthiest options for drinking water and best water filters. To be honest, this is something I’ve also been researching for quite a while, and am only now sharing with you since I’ve finally been able to understand all of the options.

Finding the healthiest food is very important, but finding the best water options can be even more important! Some sources of water can contain hundreds of chemicals and many of these chemicals can be more easily absorbed from water than from food.

How About Bottled Water?
Bottled water has gained some popularity these days, thanks for its successful marketing. But it is not a good option for several seasons:
• Chemicals from the plastic bottle itself can leak into the water
• In most cases, the water itself is no different than tap water
• Bottled water costs more than drinking tap water
• Water bottles are not environmentally-friendly!
Conclusion: Not the best option on price, taste, or health so I skip it. Don’t be baffled by its convenience. carbon filters

So, Reverse Osmosis?
Reverse osmosis filtration uses a membrane to remove many contaminants from water. The membrane is semipermeable separates many large size particles from the water. Unluckily, the filtration process wastes a large amount of water. Not to forget many naturally occurring minerals (e.g. calcium and magnesium) are also removed.
Conclusion: Reverse osmosis does remove a large amount of contaminants but it wastes more water than it produces. Just like its distillation counterpart, reverse osmosis cannot remove VOCs and other hormone disruptors. So it’s still not the best water solution.

Earth

Charcoal Grill. Gas grill. Which one is Earth Lover?

Summer is coming soon. Many of us are ready for a little fire cooking. You may consider what fuel to grill: gas or charcoal? The question is not simply which produces a tastier burger, but which is better for the planet? If you want to do it in the greenest way, the step 1 is to choose the greenest fuel.

The straight part of the issue is that the briquettes emit more carbon dioxide when they’re burned. So if you’re only concerned with the carbon dioxide that comes out from your grill, then gas is the easy choice.

But let’s step back. Consider the whole production cycle. There are certain types of charcoal deserve to be the greener cooking fuel. The trick behind is to select the charcoal that’s been produced with sustainability. Gas emits less carbon dioxide, but is made from non-renewable fossil fuels. While charcoal sounds dirtier at the first glance, but can come from renewable resources such as trees, so it is actually carbon neutral in the end. Gas, on the other hand, can’t be replenished – or at least not for the millions of years.

On top of that, briquettes are made primarily from plant waste, which would otherwise be thrown away. So, it’s not as if we’re cutting down trees just to make briquettes – they are, instead, smart and green products!

OK. It’s time to prepare the barbecue. I will grill the best not only for my stomach, but also for the Earth. How about you?

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