THE SCIENCE OF AQUACHAR
Every carbon sold in the pond & aquarium market today is a portion of an industrialized process with a formulation designed for a specific, quick reaction for other industrial uses.
AquaChar is the only carbon manufacturer with a core product that is engineered specifically for use in biological ecosystems in the pond & aquarium industry.
AquaChar is a hand-crafted, batch process which allows us to ensure the quality & consistency needed for long-term biological use.
Instead of putting our brand on someone else’s product, AquaChar has put it brand behind the product.
Because AquaChar is a first of its kind product, we would like to share some of the 3rd party test results that helps put the pieces together.
CLEANLINESS
Impurities like hydrocarbons & heavy metals (think pre-smoke residue) have been documented to cause diseases like H.L.L.E.
Here is a review from a popular ICP-OED testing company from their personal aquarium using a random purchased sample.
ICP-OED Analysis determines at a parts per billion (ppb) level which elements are being leached into water by turning water into plasma.
Building off early momentum, we provided 3,200 samples to vendors and attendees at Marine Aquarium Conference of North America (MANCA) 2019. Among the interesting people we met at the show was Raul from Triton Latin America. He purchased AquaChar to run a random sampling on his personal aquarium and promised to let us know any positive or negative results.
On October 8th of 2019 we received an email from Raul. “Your Aquachar is excellent. We Tried the samples and the cup we purchased. We noticed better water clarity and longer lifespan than Activated Carbon. We haven’t seen more but we can also testify that it is completely clean. No contamination was detected on 2 ICP-OES test made 30 days apart from each other.”
STRUCTURING CARBON
Not all carbon is the same. With temperature you get structuring. Left over campfire, pencil lead and diamonds are different forms of structured carbon with vastly different characteristic.
Single-layer graphene has gotten a lot of attention from science in recent years for its versatility in a range of applications. Graphite is layered graphene which is are bonded together.
We worked with Iowa State University to perform RAMAN Spectrograph tests to determine the structure of AquaChar carbon.
RAMAN Spectrograph is a process where lasers are shot at a substance that the spectrum absorbed and bounced back determines the structure.
When we got the results, it showed 30% graphene and 37% graphite carbon structuring on the surface of AquaChar.
LONG-TERM BIOLOGICAL MEDIA
After learning about AquaChar through our shared distributor in Holland, Marco Breekweg – a successful bacteriologist and owner of MicroBac – joined us at Reefapalooza New York because he was intrigued by a carbon which could be quickly inoculated with bacteria.
He had been testing biochar as a biological medium but found when used in hydroponics harmful impurities would leach over time impacting the ability for microorganisms to function.
The large-format, chunk sizing is unique to AquaChar. He realized the ability for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria to have a porous surface area was reflected in the results seen in the aquarium industry as a bio-media.
Two days after we sent him our ICP-OES results he began an eight-month long laboratory case study at his research University to test if how his strains bacteria reacted to AquaChar as a biological substrate.
LABORATORY CASE STUDY
The results presented to us was an eight-month study from October 10th, 2019 through August 24th, 2020.
This case study was designed to test the general interaction with AquaChar and bacillus and Nitrobacter most commonly found in aquatic environments.
The pH was stable at 7.4 and temperature was maintained consistent at 25 degrees Celsius.
For the first three months there was a weekly diet of hydrocarbons consisting of fish food and sugar.
Then for the next month no food was added to see if AquaChar was a food source for bacteria and to see how well the colony recovers.
Six months in it was needed to re-dose bacteria to see if AquaChar is an environment where new bacteria will live and maintain a population.
FOOD OR FOOD DELIVERY
AquaChar was able to be inoculated with bacteria instantly and showed quadruple growth in just weeks.
AquaChar is not a food source for bacteria but the ability of carbon to pull organics allows for food delivery to the colony.
Every day there is a myriad of problems microorganisms solve that we don’t know about. Eventually dominant species emerge which creates breaks in the chain of decomposition.
With consistent inputs, bacteria can create balance in organic breakdown but sometimes diversity needs to be dosed.
CONCLUSION
Between computers sending parameters to smart phones and mail in ICP testing there little room for error in the high-end aquarium industry.
AquaChar shows the temperature needed to force out impurities while structuring carbon.
Bacteria have adapted over hundreds of millions of year to colonize wood-based carbon to regenerate after forest fires.
The ability to quickly inoculate AquaChar while using it as a long-term electrostatic surface to deliver food to bacteria allows for easier management of organic breakdown.