Replacing Carbon in my Power filter????

[rusty-nail-z]

Hi, i have a quick question about replacing the carbon media in my power filter. Ive heard a variety of different things about it. At the fish store, the guy said replace everything (the carbon and the little filter bag it comes in) once a month. Ive also heard you should keep the bag, rinse it and replace the carbon. I was hoping someone could clear this up for me as i dont want to upset too much beneficial bacteria in my tank. Thanx

[DarkSoul]

why are you using carbon? its only needed after meds, and for clarity during the FIRST two weeks of your tanks life to clarify the water.

Other than that, im pretty sure carbon is useless, and shouldnt be bothered with unless there is a specific reason for using it, such as to clear out meds after treatment.

[nickmcmechan]

like darksoul said, dump the carbon, its for the first two weeks ony

[Flying_Diamond]

Definitely don't change the entire bag until the current one is literally falling apart. The carbon wears out and doesn't do anything for the water after it's been in there for 2 weeks. If you have a tetra whipser filter and cartridge, you can take the top plastic clip off and take the carbon out, then put filter floss (like pillow stuffing) in it, or you can leave it there, and it will just let beneficial bacteria live on it. I just leave my carbon in mine. You can rinse the cartridge in old tank water once a week when you change the water to keep it from clogging up. Once the cartridge is in tatters, and is falling apart, get a new one, and you can take the carbon out, and save it, or leave it in if you really want to, put the new cartridge in, and let the old one float for about a week, to re-seed the new cartridge.

[Rbishop]

The low quality, small volume carbon in the cartridges is not really worth it.

However, carbon of high quality and effective volume does improve water conditions. Most folks on this site will repeat what they have heard without sufficeint research or experience on the capabilities of carbon filtration.

[rusty-nail-z]

thanx for the help guys, since my power filter has two slots for carbon media, im going to empty out one puch at a time ( just to take things slow) and then leave the mirco mesh media pouches in just to have some bacteria to spare for a quarantine tank or whatever.....

[Aislinn]

I use carbon on all my tanks that have stocky bodied, messy fish in them (like my mbuna). I just don't use those flimsy little cartridges. I order commercial grade high density carbon from a water treatment plant supplier, and I put it in bags made of cut up nylon stockings. I drop it in the filter box after the floss, and I change out the carbon every two weeks. I don't bother with carbon on tanks that have small, slender fish like neons.

[hitman12131976]

What about the Zeolite (spelling?) carbon? Is that beneficial? I have yet to change my filter, but when I do I'm putting in the black and white one again. Is that bad?

[Derringer]

Most folks on this site will repeat what they have heard without sufficeint research or experience on the capabilities of carbon filtration.

Agreed, carbon can do a lot for your tank. I use diamond blend and or mix the black and white diamond myself depending on what I need. It works!

[muddskipper26]

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94711 read this, i think carbon is beneficial and use it on all my tanks.

[hitman12131976]

Thanks, great article.

[DarkSoul]

The low quality, small volume carbon in the cartridges is not really worth it.

However, carbon of high quality and effective volume does improve water conditions. Most folks on this site will repeat what they have heard without sufficeint research or experience on the capabilities of carbon filtration.

i didnt say i was 100% ... :(

[KateCB]

Just a little comment - I only use it after meds and my tanks are fine - I use pop socks or old tights for bags!

[nickmcmechan]

Some of you guys who have replied about this carbon thing are guys I've learned to respect opinions on in this forum...

So what am I missing here...is the high quality carbon worth the money, what are the benefits over not using it?

[platytetrafan]

I am a bit confused myself. I have 4 tanks one is a 36g with a penguin filter. I have not replaced the filter cartridge as yet the tank cycled around 4/15/07 the filter cartridges that are supposed to be used with this filter already have carbon in them. This week I am going to do a water change do I replace the filter or just swish the existing one in old tank water that I empty out of the tank during the pwc? I did a pwc on my 5g minibow I didn't change the whisper filter but I dumped the old carbon and replaced it with new carbon and I swished the sponge in the old tank water my 2.5g is also a minibow and is cycling right now once it is cycled I plan to use it either as a fry or qt it also has a whisper filter. I have a 3g eclipse tank did the same thing left the filter swished it in old tank water this filter also has a biowheel which I left alone the carbon is already added to this filter as well. The LFS said that I have to change the filter and carbon every 4 weeks for each tank. Everything I have read here says not to do that. So now I am confused and don't want to do anything to ruin my water quality so far I am doing great I had been following what the LFS had said about changing out the filters and carbon but now don't know what to do. Please advise is appreciated.

[Weezer]

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94711 read this, i think carbon is beneficial and use it on all my tanks.


This should help.........:)

[platytetrafan]

Ok so I guess they suggest changing out the carbon with the whisper filter it is easier to do that but with the prefilled filters may be a little more difficult to add the carbon to those filters.

[enrique4jc]

Ok so I guess they suggest changing out the carbon with the whisper filter it is easier to do that but with the prefilled filters may be a little more difficult to add the carbon to those filters.

There was another thread about this not long ago and I asked about the same thing. The advice I was given for preloaded cartridges was to cut a slit at the top of the filter cartridge where you can dump the old carbon out and add new. This way you can keep the bio-filtration in your cartridges, just rinse them out, change the carbon, and go on with it. I havent done it yet, but I plan on picking up some carbon next time I'm at the LFS.

[nickmcmechan]

OK, so from what I read in the article, Carbon is necessary when you are struggling to maintian your Nitrate levels?