When you serve a customer by hand picking a number of fresh lobsters out of the tank, do you expect to catch an unpleasant whiff or see the water filled with a cloudy fog? Obviously not and we have activated carbon to thank for that (Along with other process but we will save that for another day). Activated carbon can help you maintain a healthy environment for your aquatic aquarium.
What Is Activated Carbon?
Activated carbon by Google’s definition can be stated as “charcoal that has been heated or otherwise treated to increase its adsorptive power.” In other words, activated carbon is charcoal that is treated in a way to generate a large number of new tiny holes, increasing the surface area greatly. Thus, the large surface area is able to absorb a variety of particles polluting the environment of the tank due to its porous nature. Other carbon products are plant based but charcoal is most commonly used.
What Can Activated Carbon Do For A Tank?
When activated carbon is introduced to an aquatic environment such as a lobster tank, the quality of life increases dramatically. Without activated carbon in the filtration system, you will begin to smell the foul stench of lobster waste and its decaying products because there is no way to absorb the dissolved contaminants in the water. The carbon absorbs the chemicals that change the color of the water and fills the tank with a cloudy fog. All together, the carbon helps create a healthy environment for the lobsters that looks clear and smells fresh.
How To Use Activated Carbon
In order for activated carbon to be effective in your aquatic environment there are a few things to know. For starters, you must know where to place it. Place the carbon in between layers of filters in the filter compartment. At LLS we keep the user in mind by making the filtration bed easily accessible. Eventually the activated carbon absorbs all that it can hold and your tank will begin to smell and become cloudy. It is important to remember that the carbon should be replaced once a month to maintain a healthy environment for your lobsters. However, in higher volume grocery stores where lobsters typically sell well you should change carbon pillows every two weeks.
Where Can You Find Activated Carbon?
This is the easy part. To make sure you find the lowest prices available, check out our products and give us a call or check out our Supplies. We hope you found our first installment informative.
Check back soon for our next article!