Super Activated Carbon Turned my Water Black?

[jaygalindo]

So I am running some Super Activated Carbon in one of the drawers of my drip tower and I followed the Rena directions saying to rinse under tap water but does not have to be rinsed clean. I did this and bam, black water. This is on a frag tank with no livestock in there currently. Will this go away? What to do cause I don't want t do a water change because its kind of a big system that just finished the cycle and all the diatoms are about gone.

 

[sturman8r]

u need to completely rinse carbon or it will turn your water black like you are experiencing

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Use a filter sock and blast everything off in the tank many times. Eventually the sock will capture all the carbon particals. Next time as others have said, rinse it very well first...

 

[Myteemouse]

Are you running it in a reactor??
I like to run tap water through mine for like 5 mins then run RO/DI water through it for a min or two then your ready to go.

 

[jaygalindo]

I am running it in a tray on my drip tower. I rinsed it but not clear. LOL the instructions clearly read thar I didn't have to rinse clear.

 

[Myteemouse]

Don't believe them.. they lie..
LIARS!!

 

[jaygalindo]

yup I found that out the hard way. 180 gallons of saltwater that just finished the cycle. Its starting to clear but still gray. Should i do a complete water change?

 

[Myteemouse]

no run a filter sock or filter pad and blow the rocks and sand off every day till it clears up..

I have done this before but my water wasn't black just all my rocks and sand and glass

 

[jaygalindo]

alright i am gonna give filter pad a try. I think this would best fit my setup. Any suggestion on the micron size as I have never used a pad or a filter sock before.

 

[Myteemouse]

as smal as you can get 1-5 micron would be best

 

[ryansreef]

Good luck, I did this on a smaller tank and it was a pain to clean...

 

[conduit7]

carbon

I learned the hard way to. Rinse, rinse, rinse. Used filter pad and kept changing.

 

[ReefLogic]

I agree with filter sock and completely rinse in future

 

[Krish]

A good rinsing in ro/di water is the way to go. Also, on a side note, where your drip tray is concerned, is the cabon exposed to air? If so, I'd try submerging it.