Carbon Question

[mickspark81]

Hi guys

Ive recently treated all my fish of ich and i removed the carbon from my internal filter. The carbon was only 9 days old and went through the cycling process (with mature media which completed in around 3 - 4 days ;-)). Do i need new carbon to "soak" up the med or will the old one be ok?


ty in advance

 

[Geoff1991]

Im pretty sure carbons useless after a couple of days... Not 100% sure though.

 

[cowboy507]

carbon doesnt last long, about a week. i would just get a new carbon insert, or just some carbon and add it to your filter for a few days to get out the meds.

 

[waterdrop]

Carbon usually saturates in a couple of days, so you can remove and toss it on the third day and do another round. A couple of rounds in a week should clear your tank up pretty well if the filter volume is large enough for the water volume. We assume you have other biomedia, like sponges, ceramics or bioballs to maintain your bacterial colonies. If all or most of your filter is carbon you'd lose too much bacteria if you replaced it...

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

Your other option to remove medications quickly is a large water change to reduce the concentration. After that you may only need to do the carbon thing once to remove the residual medication.