I make my own charcoal for my tropical fish tank and I was wondering tis morning while I was doing it is softwood better for the charcoal I ant or would hardwood be better.
My other query is is eucalyptus wood safe to sue as I know that contains fair amount of volatile oils.
Anyone who does this have any ideas as Googles come up with not much at except on ho to make it.
Just for clearing the water, removing the phosphates in conjunction with specific phosphate remover material, keeping it sweet smelling and getting rid of chemicals I use for algae control etc.
The black brush algae I have is just about bearable at the moment as long as I treat the water with the algae treatment.
I ask because I ran out of my home made stuff and withing a week the water started to become cloudy - well foggy looking.
I also use two bacterial filters or bacterial beds
I think I mentioned this a few years ago...get a few Siamensis to take care of the black brush algae....other algae eaters will not touch it.
Charcoal from any wood will do fine as an activated carbon source, but cloudy water suggests you might be overfeeding? When was the last time you cleaned out the filters?
Any type of hardwood, but it can be made from any number of materials including sawdust, bamboo, coconut shells, olive pits or pecan shells.I see you may have found your "is eucalyptus wood safe to use" answer here from dadpad: http://>>> Pets >>> Making Charcoal >>> forums.whirlpool.net.au, but I would listen to his caveat:For thousands of years men have been making charcoal (non-activated) from all manner of trees, but experience taught them that the harder the wood the better the grade of charcoal.
Source: Making Charcoal at HomeIn smaller quantities i dont think you'll have a problem but fish are finicky little critters.
It sounds like you have access to a steady supply of Eucalyptus, I offer these next two links to help you differentiate between the hardwoods, both from Australia:
This link is from a building firm that uses hard and softwoods, what is nice is they offer a picture and description of the various wood species that they use and that should be helpful in identification, you can even compare up to five different species.
On it you will find trees that have Eucalyptus in their botanical name but that doesn't necessarily mean they are Eucalyptus, only that they have characteristics similar to Eucalyptus: Hardwood Timber, Trees, Forest Species & Properties - on WoodSolutions
This list is from the Hornsby Shire: Indigenous trees - Hornsby Shire Council the same goes here, on it you will find trees that have Eucalyptus in their botanical name but that doesn't necessarily mean they are Eucalyptus. Click on the fact sheet .pdf links to the right to find out more about their proper family.
This leads to the next question; Is it better to use activated or non-activated charcoal for aquariums, and which do you use? That depends on several factors:
- The size of the tank.
- The population of Fish.
- Other types of aquatic critters.
- The types of flora and algae you have in the aquarium.
- Types of stone and coral.
- The one thing you do not want to do is use chemically treated activated carbon as that type is unsuitable for use in the aquarium. You want the type that was heat - steam processed (200-1600 C) while regulating the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels.
If you've been doing okay with your present charcoal system and your fish are happy, stay with that. If you're unsure about the Eucalyptus that is available to you, try and get a picture of the bark and leaves and I try to help you figure out if your source would be a viable alternative.
Thanks for the heads up on the Siamesis Colin (I remember it was you that identified that algae way back when I first got the tank "infected") and this happens just every now and then it has been crystal clear for a long time now.
Now I don't go mad with he feed but did find a really good dealer just lately (as I think the algae came from there in the first place) who sold me some dried Australian black worms and I am wondering maybe it may be them I only use a tiny amount as a teat is usually I feed them mosquito larvae but with the cold weather they are as yo know is short supply now.
I did try to reactivate some of the charcoal in a very hot oven for 20 minutes but i made no difference so I just made more fresh stuff.
filters I clean he corner one every three days the overhead once a day for the intake tube and whenever the two refillable cartridges get clogged and I know when they are getting past the use
by date as the water backs up in the in tank. The large sponge say once a month and the bacterial one least as I have to and that is only the top intakes grid.
All the refillable renewable filters phosphate remover gauze in them that gets replaced when looking a bit grubby and I try to keep that black brush to a minimum by physically removing it. But I shall see if I can get those Siamesis from the fellow in Orange.
Anak Yep mate that is me asking the question in the forum I used visit before I found this one (I couldn't stand the flaming and general arrogance of a lot of them and yep theta bloke has answered my question, and I have a ton of eucalyptus trees on my five acres so not shortage . I have been using Elm timber up to now not knowing if that the eucalypt's have a lot of volatile oil in the leaves mainly (I know) wanted make out for sure before I went ahead and us it..
I have a 200 litre (4 foot) tank with about 35 smaller fish with a few plants and stuff.
I have mainly basalt rocks with quartz gravel in the tank and one problem I do have is that any water I use to top up the tank has to be treated with a Ph down as the water is so alkaline where I live because it flows out of and across limestone bed rock.
The method I use for making charcoal is very simple
this video shows it down with gas - I use the second method only mine is just a bonfire and I plug the top with earth afterwards. It also gets rid of garden rubbish.
How To Make Charcoal (High Quality) - YouTube < this method shows the escaping gases and volatiles better. I also use a large bulk coffee tin instead of the paint can
Making Charcoal - YouTube
Siamensis : be sure you get the true Siamensis, Chinese Algae Eaters are often mistakenly sold as Siamensis and they are very aggressive and will not touch black brush algae.
Identifying the Siamese Algae Eater
You do use the tank water to clean your filters right? Sometimes if you upset the nitrogen cycle it tries to re-establish itself, and sometimes this is manifest in cloudy water. What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings? I wonder if you aren't cleaning the filters too often.
What pH is your natural tap water? I generally do not recommend using pH modifiers, since you can get pH rebound in the tank, where it goes from low to high very quickly causing stress in the fish.
What fish do you stock in your tank?
To answer your question I would steer clear (no pun intended) from Eucalyptus as that oil is very aggressive for cleaning and many other needs but I doubt fresh water or marine fish would dig it at all......why risk it? I would say harder woods should work well for charcoal. Now maybe I should Google this but what makes charcoal activated?
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