what kind of activated carbon do i use and where do u get it

[bongman1221]

hi im atempting a small stelth grow and im going to be useing a diy screen carbon filter. similar to the one in thoes famos rubber made gro boxes, the only broblem is i live in Australia, and i cant just nip down to my local wallmart like most of u guys can. However there are a couple of home brew shops around. Can i use the activated carbon that home distlers use to clean there moonshime? , or do i use the stuff that goes in fish tank filters ? , or doues any one else have any other sources of activated carbon, any help would be ausome

thanks

 

[Guest]

You want to look for an Activated carbon with a high CTC rating. CTC is carbon-tetrachloride. This is the compound that absorbs the smell. The higher the CTC rating, the more capability the carbon has to remove smell from your funky plants.

There are specific carbons used for specific reasons, such as specific carbon to clean air, and other carbon to clean liquids, and other carbons to remove colors.

It would be optimal to have a carbon made for removing odor from the air, but I'm sure you can get away with using the carbon from the brewery, though you might have to replace it more often, and carbon is super expensive.

The best way to get carbon is to buy it in bulk, you will save so much money in the long run. Do a search for carbon producing companies in your country. Many countries have them, and since Australia is western-like, I'm sure you'll find something.

If not, you can always just use what you can find as it's better than nothing.

Good luck, ese

~SeñorSativa~

 

[iogrow]

What if I just go out and have a wood fire, could I use what remains after the fire as "carbon" in a filter?

 

[pontiac]

No, that form of carbon isn't "activated". Activated carbon is extremely porous and has a very high internal surface area. Therefore, it can absorb particles down to a molecular level.

 

[Guest]

What if I just go out and have a wood fire, could I use what remains after the fire as "carbon" in a filter?

No, that won't work because activated carbon goes through acidification processes using chemicals like Hydrochloric acid. Thats how the carbon contains the CTC. Natural carbon from burnt coals doesn't contain chloride molecules.

It would be nice though, believe me. It would have made my pockets a bit heavier from saving a few coins here and there. :wink:

Sorry to have to hit you with the bad news, but in the end, unless you don't want to protect yourself against odor, you have pay the price like the rest of us.

~SeñorSativa~

 

[Tomatoesonly]

I would like to add that I bought a cheap canister carbon filter that was filled with a large pelletized AC. Well, things started to stink up tonight, like dangerously outside the grow bad, and I rushed to change it out. That filter never did do the job, but I couldn't pin it down on the filter, until now.
I put in some granulated AC i picked up locally, all it said was Activated Carbon.
I believe the large pellets were the wrong stuff to begin with. This new granulated stuff doesn't let anything out. It has to be 3 times more effective than those pellets ever were. Just thought I would throw that out there.
I have a couple Mountain Air carbon filters, and I haven't had a bit of trouble from those.

 

[minds_I]

Hello all,

This is the shiznit.

4x6 activated coconut shell carbon.

http://www.carbonactivatedcorp.com/products.htm

85 bux to my door...55lbs. In my filter...lasts abut a year per change @ about 18 lbs of carbon.

Good luck.

minds_I

 

[Arkaya]

hi im atempting a small stelth grow and im going to be useing a diy screen carbon filter. similar to the one in thoes famos rubber made gro boxes, the only broblem is i live in Australia, and i cant just nip down to my local wallmart like most of u guys can. However there are a couple of home brew shops around. Can i use the activated carbon that home distlers use to clean there moonshime? , or do i use the stuff that goes in fish tank filters ? , or doues any one else have any other sources of activated carbon, any help would be ausome

thanks

Yes, you can use the carbon you get from the brew shop (local micro brew shop) for keeping grow smells private. The brewery and aquarium industries have as much in common as the hydroponic/horticulture industries have. Many products made for brewery or aquarium industries intersect our hobby. So if your not comfortable or if you find aquarium carbon to be cheaper, by all means go with the cheaper aquarium carbon.

Cheers mate

 

[jimbroker]

Senor Sativa - you are wrong about CTC. Carbon tetrachloride is used as an assay to determine the ability of a carbon sample to adsorb chlorine. Carbon tetrachloride is not the compound that adsorbs the smell.

This will hopefully clarify things for people about carbon filtration. I speak from personal research and experience as I explored this concept in physical chemistry lab.

Microscopically, pure carbon is riddled with pores and "craters". The greater surface area the greater amount of pores. Different kinds of carbon from different sources (biological or geological or chemical) and can have more or less pores. The pores are in all sort of shapes and sizes and a multitude of chemical compounds will fit in to these various holes. Carbon can therefore adsorb (stick to the surface of) lots of varying sized particles. You can even make or process the carbon so more of certain kinds of particles stick to it. That is why the applications of using carbon as a filter are so vast.

 

[hydrorascal]

ebay is worldwide and 99% of all sellers answer questions about their products. Carbon filters are used for lots of odor causing items.

 

[Lou Dog]

Just to clarify- the reason activated carbon absorbs impurities in fluids so well is that the four slots for particles to attach to in the valance shell are all occupied by oxygen. Oxygen is great at bonding to a lot of things that bother us, like shit in water and smells in air, because most of those particles will also readily bond to things around them [which is why they're a problem in the first place]. All of the oxygen bonding sites throughout the mix increases the absorbing surface area and makes activated carbon a great purifier.