Toxic Carbon

asharp13

asharp13

Member
alrighty here we go with this one!!!
heres the quick and dirty:
i added a bag of carbon to my tank a month or 2 ago and it cleared up the film on top of my 24g nano immediately. i removed the carbon when the porblem was cleared up after about a week. a couple days ago(2 months later) i added a new bag from my LFS and it started smelling like oil/tires/jiffylube/really toxic chemicals. the day i added the bag of carbon pellets to my tank my fish seemed euphoric. it was removed immediately. i assumed it was the carbon. i went to a different LFS and got a different bag and a day later the same thing was happening. i took that one out today.
i am worried becasue i am starting to doubt there is something wrong with the carbon and something seriously wrong with my tank. my fish seem very lackadaisical, and all my corals are flourishing except for my duncan which hasn't opened since the carbon was added and my mushroom which looks like it is shriveling up. my zoas, candys, hammers, all look great and full. inverts are doing good and moving like they usually do.
what the flip is going wrong with my tank? my fish have never looked like this and Ive never seen my duncan close since the day i got it and my mushroom has never shrunk for more than a couple hours.
does anyone have any idea what this could be?
i started this question in another thread but i am really starting to worry that something could be seriously wrong any thoughts SWF?? i am freaking out!!
heres that other thread:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/367737/carbon-added-fish-acting-weird
 
asharp13

asharp13

Member
oh and im sure someones 1st question would be my parameters. i have been testing frequently and everything seems to be inline except for the pH which dropped when i added the 1st bag of carbon which i then added buffer to stabilize
 
jemshores

jemshores

Member
I think maybe another param in your tank is off (alk, salinity, mag?) and might be reacting badly toward the charcoal, or the charcoal you purchased was somehow contaminated. Leaning towards the latter. Get some Chemi-Pure, rinse in tank water well (outside the tank) and put it in the 1st chamber w/ some floss. That way you see if the CP also puts off an odor. I personally don't buy any 'charcoal' products other than CP elite. JMO Best of luck
 
asharp13

asharp13

Member
alrighty. ill go pick up some chemi-pure today an give it a shot. just tested and params read:
pH: 7.8
Nitrate & Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: oppm
10*dKH
Calcium @ 500
phosphate: 0ppm
i am going to da a water change and add the chemi-pure today to see if there is a difference.
 
globaldesigns

globaldesigns

Member
Originally Posted by asharp13
http:///forum/post/3160743
alrighty. ill go pick up some chemi-pure today an give it a shot. just tested and params read:
pH: 7.8
Nitrate & Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: oppm
10*dKH
Calcium @ 500
phosphate: 0ppm
i am going to da a water change and add the chemi-pure today to see if there is a difference.
Your PH should be at 8.3, so you are a little low... Also your calcium is to high... that should be at 420-450
 
asharp13

asharp13

Member
i added buffer to raise my pH, how do i lower my calcium levels? i know there are additives to raise it but how do i bring it down?
 
jemshores

jemshores

Member
I would let the calcium take care of itself thru water changes, right now getting the ph up is a little more important. Hopefully the chemi will stablize things for you. Is your test kit newer and salt good? just a thought...
 
globaldesigns

globaldesigns

Member
Originally Posted by jemshores
http:///forum/post/3160848
I would let the calcium take care of itself thru water changes, right now getting the ph up is a little more important. Hopefully the chemi will stablize things for you. Is your test kit newer and salt good? just a thought...
+1, I would do some water changes, as they will affect your PH and Calcium levels. Do 10-15% a day for a few days... Then test your PH and Calcium... Check your salt parameters to see what it says it has for PH, you might then have to raise it with supplementing.
 
jemshores

jemshores

Member
I would also run a test on the water from your LFS and adjust accordingly. For a 24, I buy my own RO water and mix; for that size tank its really no chore at all. Then I know whats going in it!
 
asharp13

asharp13

Member
alrighty well i did a water change and tested my params an hour or so later.
pH: 8.2
Nitrate & Nitrite: 0ppm
ammonia: 0
phosohates: 0
*dKH: 10
Ca: 350
i added a bag of chemi-pure with the water change and will check and update this thread tomorrow morning with another reading of my params and an update on the chemi-pure bag
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

Not all carbon is activated. Activated charcoal makes a rice crispy sound when you rinse it. It is only good for 1 month.
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Originally Posted by asharp13
http:///forum/post/3160743
alrighty. ill go pick up some chemi-pure today an give it a shot. just tested and params read:
pH: 7.8
Nitrate & Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: oppm
10*dKH
Calcium @ 500
phosphate: 0ppm
i am going to da a water change and add the chemi-pure today to see if there is a difference.

Originally Posted by asharp13
http:///forum/post/3160925
alrighty well i did a water change and tested my params an hour or so later.
pH: 8.2
Nitrate & Nitrite: 0ppm
ammonia: 0
phosohates: 0
*dKH: 10
Ca: 350
i added a bag of chemi-pure with the water change and will check and update this thread tomorrow morning with another reading of my params and an update on the chemi-pure bag

Both post by you are from today. Your water change sure did a lot to your water. Your PH went to normal and your calcium went down by 150. Do you dose your tank with anything?
I know your having some cyano problems in your tank.
With cyano being a bacteria, does anyone think that it is causing his PH to drop due to the acidity?? Am I off base on this?
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by asharp13
http:///forum/post/3161058
I know its crazy and i cannot figure it out for the life of me

Time to check the test kit or your method of taking those tests. Readings should not be that different in a single day.
 
asharp13

asharp13

Member
i might have done the calcium test wrong the second time and added some buffer that i forgot to mention. alright so here is the update:
i added the bag of chemi-pure yesterday afternoon with my water change, by last night, one of my oces, and my mandarin were face down on the sand bed (i thought they were goners personally), the other oce was struggling beyond recognition and the 2 damsels were breathing heavily and looked like they were near death. i removed the chemi-pure immediately. this morning i woke up and all my fishe were present and accounted for with no deaths (i think thanks to the chemi-pure being removed in time) and i couldnt do a wc till today cuz i was out of salt last night.WHAT IS GOING WRONG WITH MY TANK???? why will it not accept carbon? is it too much of a change and it just ends up a disaster? why does it smell like toxic chemicals? what could possibly be the cause this? why do my fish look like they are on the brink of death when it is added?
WHY WHY WHY i cannot figure it out and my LFS has absolutely no clue/answers/ideas. I hope someone on this site can help me cuz it really worries me that no one has every had their carbon do this to them.
 
geoj

geoj

Active Member
If it barks like a dog
Wags its tale like a dog
It’s a dog…
Go back to basic fish keeping if you don’t need it don’t use it.
Salinity, Temp, Oxygen, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate?
 
geoj

geoj

Active Member
Originally Posted by asharp13
http:///forum/post/3160743
alrighty. ill go pick up some chemi-pure today an give it a shot. just tested and params read:
pH: 7.8
Nitrate & Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: oppm
10*dKH
Calcium @ 500
phosphate: 0ppm
i am going to da a water change and add the chemi-pure today to see if there is a difference.
I look at this PH at 7.8 and think something is up, you might have had an error in reading the test this time you took it. With an 10dKH, Calcium @ 500 I would not trust the PH to be 7.8 more like 8.1-8.4
When this type of thing happens to me I stop and just do water changes for 3 – 4 weeks and slowly go back one change at a time till I find what it was I did wrong…
 
asharp13

asharp13

Member
Originally Posted by GeoJ
http:///forum/post/3161522
If it barks like a dog
Wags its tale like a dog
It’s a dog…
Go back to basic fish keeping if you don’t need it don’t use it.
Salinity, Temp, Oxygen, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate?
i agree and after seeing my fish almost die twice in one week im done with the stuff
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top