Prime And Carbon Filters

[Kaidonni]

I've searched for the answer on the internet, and unfortunately I cannot find it, even in the Seachem products FAQ for Prime. Would a carbon filter pad absorb Seachem Prime? One site seemed to provide an answer that it would not, but if memory serves me that was a Yahoo Answers thread...I think I'd prefer a second opinion, and then some.

 

[Byron]

You can email Seachem with questions concerning their products, and they will answer, usually in good time too.
 
But I would not expect Prime to be adsorbed or absorbed [carbon adsorbs substances] by carbon.  Seachem have told me that Prime basically remains effective for 36-48 hours and they did not mention any exceptions.
 
Byron.

 

[Kaidonni]

Thank you for that. I ask because I've had to place one in the filter as an emergency, except I only swilled it in about a litre of dirty tank water prior to putting it in the filter and into the tank...Fluval says to rinse thoroughly before use (under tap water or tank water?). I'm now worried it will screw up the pH.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

This hobby would be in big trouble if carbon removed or neutralized dechors. Almost any filter one buys comes with media that includes carbon. Imagine what happens to out fish when we put in new carbon and then the next week do a water change and add dechlor.
 
Pretty much all hobby dechlor brands will contain Sodium Thiosulfate or some other similar form of thiosulfate. You can actually buy this in bulk and use it for way cheaper than dechlors. However, most of them also contain an ammonia neutralizer because of chloramine and will also detoxify some heavy metals and a few other things.
 
And just one more little factoid:

 
Activated carbon is the best remover of free chlorine, and with enough residence time it removes chloramine effectively. However, when chloramine is involved in an oxidation-reduction reaction, ammonia is left behind, and ammonia is a severe problem for aquarium owners.

from http/www.purewaterproducts.com/articles/chloramine-and-ammonia/
 
And then this is the interesting part about how activated carban works to neutralize chlorine:
 

 
Chlorine concentrations greater than 0.3 ppm in water can be tasted. Activated carbon is very effective in removing free chlorine from water. The removal mechanism employed by activated carbon for dechlorination is not the adsorption phenomena that occur for organic compound removal. Dechlorination involves a chemical reaction of the activated carbon’s surface being oxidized by chlorine. There are reactions when hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ion react with activated carbon (shown below).
Carbon + HOCl → C*O + H+ + Cl–
Carbon + OCl– → C*O + Cl–
C*O represents the oxidized site of activated carbon after reacting with chlorine; the chlorine has been reduced to chloride ion (Cl-). These reactions occur very quickly.

from http/www.wcponline.com/pdf/0906Potwora.pdf