Question

[gibson159]

why do you have to take out carbon in the filter when you are treating the water with something e.g. whitespot control

just a question because i avent got a clue lol

thanks
paul

 

[DevUK]

Carbon pads are designed to take out some impurities as well as colour from the water. They will absorb some medications you put into a tank, so can work against you if you're trying to treat the tank. They come in useful after you've finished treatment and you want to remove any traces of the medication

Most people have a few kicking about in their fish supply cupboard for that reason but don't use them on a day-to-day basis. Also, you have to replace them every few weeks if you use them regularly as they quickly absorb to capacity (can be expensive), and then I believe they start to discharge whatever they've absorbed (that might not be true, but I have read it on several forums).

 

[gibson159]

ok thanks dev, so you are saying, my carbon could stop the medication working pretty much?

also what sort of price are we looking at for more carbon?

thanks
paul

 

[DevUK]

It could stop your medication or slow it down a lot, yes. The meds would be filtered out of the water by the carbon.

Depends on your filter. You can buy black sponge pads with carbon on them for most filters, and also you can buy bags of carbon (basically charcoal I think) that you put into bigger filters. Not sure on price, but for something like a Fluval 3+ you're maybe talking £3 or £4 for 2 pads maybe? Not vastly expensive but over time it builds up.

 

[k.o.d]

With new carbon, it would totally remove your medication, there is a debate as to whether carbon leaches impurities back into the water once the ab/adsorption has reached its limit, but from reading some articles, it seems that the leaching back is not the case, in fact some publications encourage leaving it in the tank as it has such a massive surface area due to the way activated carbon is manufactured that it is ideal for nitrifying bacteria to colonise

Steve

 

[waterdrop]

for further interest in carbon:

http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_carbon