Activated Charcoal/Zeolite Clarification please

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DAnCSF

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Apologies for the dumb question but I'm a bit baffled...for time immemorial I always thought filters, HOB etc should have a activated charcoal and filter floss. After all many of us buy those prepackaged cartridges. Now it seems that may not be the thing to do since some articles point to charcoal, removing nutrients need for plants and that zeolite will harm/remove beneficial bacteria. Should I now stop using the filter cartridges in favor of bio balls and just filter floss? Realizing the answer isn't black and white, But I would like to know what others have experienced when they eschewed charcoal and zeolite. thanks in advance...DanC
 
Apologies for the dumb question but I'm a bit baffled...for time immemorial I always thought filters, HOB etc should have a activated charcoal and filter floss. After all many of us buy those prepackaged cartridges. Now it seems that may not be the thing to do since some articles point to charcoal, removing nutrients need for plants and that zeolite will harm/remove beneficial bacteria. Should I now stop using the filter cartridges in favor of bio balls and just filter floss? Realizing the answer isn't black and white, But I would like to know what others have experienced when they eschewed charcoal and zeolite. thanks in advance...DanC
Back in the day I used to used activated carbon and zeolite because LFS told me I needed it. There aren't any benefits to using either, both are used in the hobby as a way for fish stores to make money off of something they deem needs to be replaced every couple of months I no longer do haven't for years. Both are a waste of money. Especially if one has live plants. In my HOB filters I have 2 things, lava rock for growing beneficial bacteria, it's never replaced, and filter floss which is squeezed out in water bucket with every change and replaced when disintegrated. Filter floss purpose is to trap particles, waste.
Activated carbon should only ever be used to clear a tank of medication. Zeolite I have yet to find any benefits.
 
In aquariums, Zeolite or Ammogon (a small white granule) is used to remove ammonia from water. And Carbon (a small black granule that is different from charcoal) is used to remove chemicals and heavy metals from water.

Because Zeolite removes ammonia, it removes the food the beneficial filter bacteria eat and this can prevent a filter from cycling (developing the good bacteria needed to keep ammonia and nitrite levels at 0). If you add Zeolite to a tank with an established biological filter, it can stop the biological filter working.

When the Zeolite is full of ammonia, it stops adsorbing it and you get an ammonia spike/ build up, which can kill fish because there is no beneficial filter bacteria to break it down into nitrite and nitrate.

There is no way of telling when Zeolite is full except if you test the water for ammonia every day and you get an ammonia reading. Subsequently, most places that sell Zeolite, suggest changing it every week. This theoretically means it will be fresh and keep ammonia levels at 0ppm for the entire week. It might continue to adsorb ammonia for longer but it's hard to tell when it's full so it needs to be changed regularly.

Zeolite can be recharged by soaking it in salt water and then drying it.

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Carbon can remove plant fertilisers, chemical medications and heavy metals from water. It does not remove salt, calcium or magnesium. If you are treating fish or adding plant fertiliser to the tank, you need to remove carbon from the filter so it doesn't remove these things from the water.

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The best filter media to use is sponge. You can buy sponges in different grades with fine, medium, course or extra course gradients. The different grades just have different sized holes in them and medium grade sponges are commonly used for aquarium filters.

You can buy sponges for various makes of filter and use a pair of scissors to cut them to fit your current filter. AquaClear do nice sponges in a range of sizes and are available from most pet shops. There are other brands too.

Sponges get squeezed out in a bucket of tank water at least once a month and the sponge is re-used. The bucket of dirty water gets tipped on the lawn/ garden. Sponges will last for 10+ years and only get replaced when they start to fall apart.

You can use course, medium and fine sponges together in a filter or just one type of sponge.

You can use bioballs in conjunction with sponges.

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If you change the filter media, add the new media to the filter and leave it there for at least a month with the old media. After a month or more, remove some of the old media and add some more new media. Wait another month and then remove the last of the old media and add new media.

Don't clean the new media for a month or so after it has been added. This will give the beneficial bacteria time to develop a biofilm on the sponge and stick to it properly.
 
Thanks you, Utah and Colin for taking the time to reply and clarification...I guess filter cartridges are the fish industries version of razor blades and printer inks, Now to start weeing my tanks off the cartridges.....thank you....
 
Thanks you, Utah and Colin for taking the time to reply and clarification...I guess filter cartridges are the fish industries version of razor blades and printer inks, Now to start weeing my tanks off the cartridges.....thank you....
Lol yeah :)
 
I agree with Colin with one possible exception...Bio balls were developed for drip systems that allow the water to drip though them - the increased O2 is said to promote increased BB activity. I don't feel that they are as effective as other medias when submerged in a filter as other medias technically have more surface area.
I really agree about sponge material - ALL of my filters (Except the DIY Bucket filter) are completely filled with sponge material. It's a great platform for beneficial bacteria, less expensive than most commercial BIO-Medias, clean easily, and as Colin pointed out, last forever and a day.
 
I am another that uses only sponge.
Only yesterday I put a new filter in one of my tanks. First thing I did was remove the (unused) carbon / floss cartridges and their little holders and cut 2 pieces of sponge to fit in the gaps.
 
Thanks you, Utah and Colin for taking the time to reply and clarification...I guess filter cartridges are the fish industries version of razor blades and printer inks, Now to start weeing my tanks off the cartridges.....thank you....
If you have cartridges containing carbon or Zeolite, you can cut them open with a pair of scissors and tip the contents in the bin. Then squeeze the cartridge out in a bucket of tank water and re-use it a few times.
 
Ah how great is it to get a fresh idea thanks Colin. Now to rethink my tanks: a 30 g tall, 40 g bow front, 29 g, all planted, and a newish 100 no plants....so I'll be removing the charcoal from the first 3, adding charcoal to the 100 cannister. Luckily all the tanks are "seasoned" and have been running a awhile albeit not as efficiently as they should be...I guess I'll be doing lots of water changes for the next few week...at least the water dept will be happy....;-)
 

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