Activated Carbon?

[JimmyTheCack]

I was thinking on my 55 Gal. Orchidarium, and wondered if activated charcoal, or carbon would be a good bottom filler. Used as an odor control solution, and as a cushion between the pots, and the glass. Not to mention affordability! any thoughts?

[hcastil3]

I did that on mine, its great!!!, you do have to rinse it out quite a bit to get most of the really dark color out, so it doesn't stain your water, if you will have a resevoir or so..

But I love it i'm glad I did it, i figured i would give it ago now I havemoss growing on top of it..

I did mix orchid bark along with it though, so hope that helps

[Magnus A]

Why?

If the answer is "because other people use it but I have no clue why" forget it.

To add something to your growing medium should be based on a reason and not some rumor on its excellence circulating on the internet...

For some science.
The ability of activated carbon to adsorb hydrophobic compounds is very fast saturated and then it is just ordinary carbon you have left.

I see it as an expensive material that does not bring any benefit. Just change the water more regularly in the startup phase to wash out most of the soluble material. The activated carbon does not have that kind of capacity.

[hcastil3]

I got mine for really cheap and its already a part of the orchid bark i'm using on top of that so I just added more so my whole set up would be lighter in weight. and I wanted a really dark bottom so this helped, I didn't even think about smell, or anything, I just did it for the look lol this was a while ago and It was my first build so yep, it worked for me

[isurus79]

Carbon is really good at absorbing toxins and pollutants. If you aren't changing it and throwing it away, the carbon will turn into a toxic mess. Its good short term stuff, but long term (without constantly changing it) it isn't healthy for your plants.

[JimmyTheCack]

Ok! There's my answer! No to carbon! Thank you much Isurus79!