Activated carbon vs algae

[zozo]

I guess or matter a fact for me personaly it's not about beeing right or wrong.. Any filter can and does help to filter out algae parts and spores from the water, carbon might contribute to that because it has a very high microscopic porosity and holds particles of a size which pass through a sponge filter. Carbon might help filter out green algae from the water collum and probably a sand filter will do as good. But it does not filter out the cause why the algae is establashing in the water. Without adressing the cause and only make use of a filter would be a vicious circle of constantly growing it and taking it out again.. What's the point of that??

If the cause of having algae is a excess of having to much of certain elements which are classified as macros and or micros we use for feeding the plants, then the answer to your initial question is no, carbon does "not filter out these elemnets very good". So if you look up how activvated carbon works and how it is used in other industries you'll find references and lab reports about what binds to carbon and what not.. For the most part is is stated "Doesn't bind very good to". It does bind some, but not in such a way that it is measurable with a negative effect to the plants or algae we grow with it..

Allelopathy is a process of which we know very little about when it comes to measuring it. Tho we can observe it with known plants which do this rather obviously even in our garden if we like. Not only plants do it also algae does produce allelochemicals to benefit it's own survival. Even some animals have those kind of capabilities.. I also played with the idea that this maybe occures more often in our tanks then we might think. And probably could be a game of numbers and could be a cause why certain plants do not well together in the same environment.

I realy do not know enough about allelopathy to say in how far it plays a role in what happens in our tanks.. And also no idea if active carbon has any effect on it. But i have one tank i stacked with over 20 different plant species together and had plants in there which for what ever reaso just didn't want to grow, Allelopathy?? Thought of it, but dunno. If it was, the active carbon i filter with didn't do sh#t about it and they died anyway.. 🙂

 

[Soilwork]

Thanks again. Please note I am not interested in carbon removing macro and micro nutrients as they are commonly thought of in this hobby. I'm strictly talking dissolved organics. I'll have to look in more detail at those reports (if I can find them) the idea of asking here was hopefully to provide discussion and evidence to suggest that it does or does not or simply we don't know.

You make a valid point about algae producing allelochemicals to benefit its own survival. I don't know if this is true, I can only go off what walstads references have led me to believe at this point. So if carbon removes allelochemicals (which Walstad also says is absolutely true) and in doing so removes a chemical that might benefit algae could we not conclude that that would suggest carbon has a positive affect at removing substances that aid algae growth? That's if allelopathy is even a thing.

I don't understand how one can give a yes or no answer without providing scientific detail. Please forgive me but I can't accept an experiment in an unknown tank/environment. There may have been many reasons some plants survived and some didn't that far exceed any small contribution carbon may or may not have made. I'm not suggesting carbon is the answer for preventing algae and that initial problems shouldn't be addressed but whether it is removing some things that could have some input to trigger growth providing another reason to run it in an aquarium.

Ceg4048 mentions algae spores sensing organic substances leaching from the surface of a leaf. Carbon removes organic substances, put two and two together you get this thread. If I does not remove these exact substances then why? Please help me to understand.

Edit: if you don't know please just say you don't know, I will be happy with that answer too 🙂

 

[zozo]

I already said i do not know.. 🙂 And also do not know if it ever was researched regarding ornamental aquatic plants, probably not because it is not realy described anywhere. But than again suppose carbon does take it out, then it only would be beneficial if the admistering is stoped. So if plants keep producing it and the filter keeps taking it out, you would be back to the vicious circle of adding and taking out, which maybe results in having less of it to a certain extend since the carbon slowly becomes less active to more it takes up, but you're not taking it out.

The proof is in the pudding, still many people using active carbon still have algae (outbrakes).. I did and not a little one too, several, clado, staghorn and green algae, never mind the algae sp. in there which do not bother me enough.. 🙂 So if it filters out those organics it doesn't do it sufficient enough the be noticable.

That's what i know. And that's not science, that is experience and connecting dots.. Resulting in the idea that the answer most likely is "no"... 🙂 Even if there is a little "yes" to it, experience says probably not worth the effort to investigate with tons of expensive lab equiptment for ornamental purpose.

But still the biological phenomenon allelopathy is a very intresting matter and absolutely a thing widly researched in the farming industry. And i think yes it also happens in our fish tanks.

since

Allelopathy is characteristic of certain plants, algae, bacteria, coral, and fungi. Allelopathic interactions are an important factor in determining species distribution and abundance within plant communities, and are also thought to be important in the success of many invasive plants.

 

[Soilwork]

Excellent thanks. So, I would be inclined to agree that Carbon either doesn't remove them at all, doesn't remove them as efficiently as they are produced, removes them but dissolved organics does not contribute to the formation of algae as much as is thought and so has no effect.

 

[zozo]

What you see is what you get..



There are more things in the tank, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.