carbon for filter question

laurabb

laurabb

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Jan 7, 2007
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I have a Red Sea Nano filter for my 2.5 gallon tank, and it's great. However, the replacement carbon pads only seem to come bundled along with the regular filter pads, which I obviously don't want to change (even though my tank still isn't cycled - will it ever cycle? That's another post).

Anyway, is there another option for getting/making carbon pads to fit my filter? If I keep buying the Red Sea bundles, I end up with a ton of filter pads that I'm probably never going to use. I just want the carbon pads. Any ideas?
 
dont bother with the carbon, its only really needed to remove chemicals that have been added e.g. fish medicines/treatments. carbon eventually starts to leak back the poisons that it has absorbed after about a month, so just use extra normal filter pads in its place
 
Deadline said:
I have a question that goes along with this, I have a Tetra Whisper Filter which has two parts that come out. They have a BIO BAG and a black sponge like filter also. Which one is the bacteria growing on? The one with the carbon or the black sponge filter?

you can kind of see it here http://www.petco.com/Assets/product_images/4%5C4679825816B.jpg

Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

The bacteria will grow on both. They grow on most surfaces in the tank. Eventually the carbon will become useless for removing stuff in the water, but it will still provide a place for bacteria to grow.
 
Ah thanks for the info! But it will still be ok for my cycle if I just replace the BIO bag with the carbon in it but leave the other sponge filter in?
 
Why do you want to replace it? If you have no toxins or meds that you want to remove, there is really no point, and you are just losing some of your bacteria.
 
I have read some places that leaving old carbon in your filter can cause it to eventually leach back in the water all the "stuff" it's collected. I don't know if this is true or not, and I've been known to leave carbon in my filter for a few months without noticing any ill effects. But as Sammie said, if you don't have a need to get any toxins such as meds out of your water...I wouldn't really bother replacing the carbon filter. In fact, you'd be better off using that slot for something else and saving the bio bags with carbon in for times when you need them, IMO.
 
KJoFan said:
I have read some places that leaving old carbon in your filter can cause it to eventually leach back in the water all the "stuff" it's collected. I don't know if this is true or not, and I've been known to leave carbon in my filter for a few months without noticing any ill effects. But as Sammie said, if you don't have a need to get any toxins such as meds out of your water...I wouldn't really bother replacing the carbon filter. In fact, you'd be better off using that slot for something else and saving the bio bags with carbon in for times when you need them, IMO.
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Yea I cut a slit in my filter pad and removed the carbon and filled it with filter floss, so that the bacteria had more places to grow. I leave the carbon for when it is actually needed. I don't need to be wasting money on anything else.
 
KJoFan said:
I have read some places that leaving old carbon in your filter can cause it to eventually leach back in the water all the "stuff" it's collected. I don't know if this is true or not, and I've been known to leave carbon in my filter for a few months without noticing any ill effects. But as Sammie said, if you don't have a need to get any toxins such as meds out of your water...I wouldn't really bother replacing the carbon filter. In fact, you'd be better off using that slot for something else and saving the bio bags with carbon in for times when you need them, IMO.
Click to expand...

Great idea! Never thought of it! I guess ill just leave it in until it gets clogged up, then I can just rinse it out in some tank water to get rid of the debre?
 
Hmm. So is carbon really unnecessary? Doesn't it help to keep your water clear? Or is that just marketing? I *do* like crystal-clean water :-)
 
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