Not Useing Carbon / Zeolights

[masaman]

my filter (fluval u3) has a seperate compartment for putting zeolights in .
I have however found mixed reveiws to them and was woundering if i could use this space in my filter for other media
the genral idea is they start to leeach chems back into the water after some time and unless i want to keep buying more i would be better to take them out . ditto the carbon pads in my filter . would i be better to stop buying new ones every few months and just fill the filter with sponge or other media

 

[ainsy]

Yep - scrap them and replace with more biological media

 

[masaman]

so more filter sponge ? any type or brand ?

 

[ainsy]

Sponge is fine - brand is not important. Just buy it bigger than you need and cut to be a tight fit.

I have been using this recently and find it very effective.

 

[ZoddyZod]

the U3's compartment is not meant specifically for zeolight or carbon (the U3 actually comes with pads covered with carbon on one side). It should also have come with some basic ceramic media for that blue compartment - just fill it up with more of the same.

 

[masaman]

well i was thinking to not replace the carbon pads and put some filter wool or sponge in the space
the blue compart ment came with what i thought where zeolights in them? i have since bought some more zeolights and im using them atm but also thought i could scrap them and start filling the blue compartment with more wool or sponge

 

[ZoddyZod]

it's not zeolite (unless that's what they come with now?) it should be biomax, or similar.

leave the carbon pads where they are - if you've been running them for months that will be exhausted by now anyway and will also be home to a fair amount of beneficial bacteria. Also, the opposite side of those pads (the white side) is a polishing pad that traps the smaller particulate from the water. If you replace with a regular sponge your water wont be quite as clear.

 

[masaman]

i dunno what the filter came with , it looked like zeos but since then i have bought zeos so i know that is what is in .
the point was that carbon and zeolights both leek chems back into the water if you do not replace and since i dont really want to keep buying i thought i could replace them with permanet filter sponge or wool

im sure i could find somthing to replace the polishing side of the carbon pad for example

ofc i would not replace it all at one time , change one pad then a few weeks later the other befor finally changing the zeolights for example

but first of all i would need some advice on sutable replacments for the carbon and zeolights

 

[ZoddyZod]

zeolite and carbon do not leech chemicals or anything else back into the water once they have reached capacity - they just become inactive.

 

[masaman]

so the is no harm in keeping then in past the point that they not longer adsorbe chems from my water ? ofc they still have surface area whitch hold bio fiteration

 

[ZoddyZod]

correct!