Carbon Filter

[Aqua Tom]

I have a Interpet PF1 Power Filter.

I have read up that the carbon filter foam only lasts a couple of weeks. Is it worth replacing it with more carbon foam or swapping it out for more White Filter Foam?

ps, I think by "Foam" they mean Sponge.

 

[the biffster]

I have a Interpet PF1 Power Filter.

I have read up that the carbon filter foam only lasts a couple of weeks. Is it worth replacing it with more carbon foam or swapping it out for more White Filter Foam?

ps, I think by "Foam" they mean Sponge.

the only time i use
carbon in a filter
is when i am removing
treatments or tannins
from bog wood i will be ok to
replace with the white filter
foam or floss to polish the water

 

[Noahs ark6]

You can wash the carbon 1 or 2 times to "re-activate". It is a good idea to refill it with clean carbon, because carbon willl help keep ur water very clean.

 

[Gvilleguy]

The trouble with carbon, in my experience, is that when it comes to replacing it, if you discard the cartridge part itself (rather than refill it with more carbon), you are discarding helpful bacteria colonies. This happened to me twice on different filters, causing my tanks to mini-cycle. So now I always replace the carbon with something else.

 

[Aqua Tom]

Hmmm so the common consensus is ditch the carbon in favour of somthing else.

Think i will do this sooner rather than later as I am in the begining stages of my fishless cycle & dont want to disturb it to much later on.

 

[fluttermoth]

A wise decision, Aqua Tom.

When you take into account the fact that carbon doesn't remove ammonia, nitrite or nitrate you can see that you'd be better off with something you can keep bacteria in.

 

[waterdrop]

I think its a good decision too. Its all about what will last longer. What happens with carbon is that it tends to crumble and little pieces get carried off, often winding up in the tank gravel and getting gravel-siphoned out of the tank. The bacterial colonies are even smaller than these little barely visible particles (bacterial colonies are not really visible except as a brown stain on lighter colored media inside filters.) In contrast to this, sponge lasts much longer and offers a similar high surface area. Ceramics last even longer than sponges and can offer a very high surface area when in the form of ceramic gravel beds. (Ceramic gravel has a higher surface area than substrate gravel, although that too can be used in filter trays.)

Carbon is a great thing to have in the storage cabinet. If you think about it, gravel, sponges and such can do nothing if your water is yellow from bogwood tannins or if medications have been used. These are what carbon is for. Its a "chemical" media and can "adsorb" (collect molecules via molecular charge attraction) tannins, medications and the odd organic odor of unknown source. It is sometimes used in conjunction with fresh extra-fine floss mechanical media prior to a tank photo session, to help final water clarity.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Aqua Tom]

My water is very brown from the bogwood so I will wait untill the carbon does its job then ditch it for more foam.

 

[waterdrop]