Boiling carbon?

[shrimpchips]

Originally Posted by Snaz

Certainly the hotter the better but in my experience you can get quite a bit out of the carbon with a BBQ. My only measure is after being cooked the carbon will again "snap, crackle and pop" when wet albeit to a lesser extent than if new.

Does it really retain the ability to absorb and adsorb things as well? The crackling is just the carbon rehydrating - the same crackle as your rice crispies. I'm guessing you can "burn off" some of the crap, but does it all come out?

[fkshiu]

Did some searching around and this patent application for a carbon recharging kiln heats it up to 800-1000 degrees F.

http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/51...scription.html

That's hotter than on top of a BBQ.

Then there's this exchange involving melev and Boomer suggesting a microwave method:
http://www.petkb.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/...arbon-Recharge

Boomer knows his crap so perhaps its worth a try, although the missus probably wouldn't take kindly to such unauthorized use of "her" microwave

[Myka]

I would never microwave anything that's going into the tank. I rarely use it for food for myself. Microwaves are horrible.

I do soak my carbon in RO overnight just room temperature.

[Ian]

Myka, what is your issue with the microwave? It leaves no residual energy other than heat that I am aware of. Fill me in please.
Good thread...any 4 saving means more new corals

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Ian

Myka, what is your issue with the microwave? It leaves no residual energy other than heat that I am aware of. Fill me in please.

Microwaves damage pretty much anything that goes into them on a molecular level. It's like trying to finish a puzzle with a few pieces missing or misshapen.

Plain old water when microwaved (and cooled) and used to water plants has been damaged to the point that the plants don't recognise it as water anymore, and the plants will wither away. If you don't believe that try it yourself on two "identical" plants. Feed one tap water, and the other microwaved tap water. You can find experiments like these documented on the internet. I didn't believe them, so I tried it myself. It's true.

[Interior_Reef]

Have you tried 3?

one with tap water
one with tap water Microwaved
one with tap water Boiled on the stove

perhaps boiling the the water in general will change the molecular level, regardless of the method used?

[shrimpchips]

Microwaving water does nothing to the molecular structure or composition of water - it will add heat (energy) to the bonds within the molecule, but it won't make it into anything else besides H2O.

Saying it damages it on the molecular level is a load of crap. While it is true that microwaves can damage things like proteins and DNA (due to conformational changes, breakdown of COMPLEX molecular structures, etc), it will NOT cause a molecular change in H2O. Last time I microwaved water it didn't turn into anything else, if I recall correctly.

Documented on the internet? Lots of stuff is documented on the internet - unless it's peer reviewed by experts in the field, it's only as good as the next site about ninjas swallowing frisbees when they get really ****ed.


Maybe the water needs to be cooled first?

[Oceanic]

I think this thread is going much deeper into the whole idea of heating the carbon in water than it needs too! I urge anyone the next time they are changing carbon to try this before making assumptions. I am not sure about the whole idea that it supercharges the carbon; however, 2 minutes in boiling water makes rinsing it useless, all impurities float to the surface and it is ready for use in the tank immediately.

I understand that boiling or very hot water drives all of the air out of the Carbon making it more effective vs carbon that typically will have lots of air trapped in the microscopic channels when only rinsed with cold water.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I think if you pour hot water on a plant, heated in any way, its going to start to wither away.

I boiled my carbon yesterday before using it and a lot of crap came out of it. I didn't test to see if phosphates had leached out but I assume they may have. In any case, I will always boil carbon first. After boiling, I rinsed it in RO and I was impressed with how little the RO water washed out of the carbon, it was relatively clean.

[Oceanic]

Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer

I think if you pour hot water on a plant, heated in any way, its going to start to wither away.

I boiled my carbon yesterday before using it and a lot of crap came out of it. I didn't test to see if phosphates had leached out but I assume they may have. In any case, I will always boil carbon first. After boiling, I rinsed it in RO and I was impressed with how little the RO water washed out of the carbon, it was relatively clean.

BINGO! Exactly why I recommend it.....