Quick Filter Question...

[MattM1124]

I just bought a new filter, the Aqua Clear 50 and had a question about the Carbon. I know it's not necessary to run the carbon but it's included and goes in the middle of the filter. Those you have an Aqua Clear know that the bottom is the foam pad, middle level is the carbon, and the top is the Biomax. Would it be ok to just use the foam bag and the bio max or should I also use the carbon in the middle? I have heard that after a week or so the carbon leaks into the water.

thanks!

 

[tenohfive]

Won't make any difference whether you leave it in or out. Personally I leave it in (unless I'm treating with med's) and after awhile it'll lose any effectiveness as a chemical filter, and just gets left in as an extra layer of mechanical filtration.

 

[drobbyb]

I rum aquaclear filters. I don't use the carbon, but in it's place I add crushed coral to buffer my tank's water.

 

[MattM1124]

Won't make any difference whether you leave it in or out. Personally I leave it in (unless I'm treating with med's) and after awhile it'll lose any effectiveness as a chemical filter, and just gets left in as an extra layer of mechanical filtration.

Thanks for the quick response! So what's all the fuss about not wanting to leave the carbon in for too long and having it leak into the water?

 

[tenohfive]

Won't make any difference whether you leave it in or out. Personally I leave it in (unless I'm treating with med's) and after awhile it'll lose any effectiveness as a chemical filter, and just gets left in as an extra layer of mechanical filtration.

Thanks for the quick response! So what's all the fuss about not wanting to leave the carbon in for too long and having it leak into the water?

You're the first person I've heard mention it to be honest. I've not got one of those tanks myself, but I can't see how it'd be an issue anyway - filter carbon is filter carbon.

 

[MattM1124]

I rum aquaclear filters. I don't use the carbon, but in it's place I add crushed coral to buffer my tank's water.

Oh, that's a good suggestion! My water's pretty good though and doesn't fluctuate so any suggestion on what I could put in the middle layer? I have a cartridge filter too, maybe add some filter media into a cartridge and have another layer of that?

 

[drobbyb]

I rum aquaclear filters. I don't use the carbon, but in it's place I add crushed coral to buffer my tank's water.

Oh, that's a good suggestion! My water's pretty good though and doesn't fluctuate so any suggestion on what I could put in the middle layer? I have a cartridge filter too, maybe add some filter media into a cartridge and have another layer of that?

You could do it that way. That's the fun side of the hobby, finding out what works and what works for you. Science was my favorite subject in school. Fishkeeping is full of science and I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Tolak]

I don't run carbon unless I have to remove meds. or on a brand new tank to remove any manufacturing residue. With the AC's I used to run double sponges & floss. The second sponge can be used for tank cloning.

For an explanation on carbon releasing what it has absorbed see this topic; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=250164

 

[bitteraspects]

just throw the carbon away. i dont run it in any of my AC filters. never have, never will. lol

as far as what to use instead, the options are limited to your imagination.
for mech filtration you can use another sponge, filter floss, filter pads (cut to size), poly fill/ quilt batting.
for bio filtration you can use crushed coral, substrate, bio-balls, ceramic rings, more bio-max pellets, scrubbies, ect.
there are tons of options.

 

[MattM1124]

just throw the carbon away. i dont run it in any of my AC filters. never have, never will. lol

as far as what to use instead, the options are limited to your imagination.
for mech filtration you can use another sponge, filter floss, filter pads (cut to size), poly fill/ quilt batting.
for bio filtration you can use crushed coral, substrate, bio-balls, ceramic rings, more bio-max pellets, scrubbies, ect.
there are tons of options.

Well now I have an Aqua Clear 50 and Tetra Whisper 40 running on my main tank. I also have a 10 gallon q-tank that uses a little filter that came with the tank. It uses those small cartridges that you can put the matrix media in. I was thinking about putting a small cartridge with some matrix bio media in it in the middle of the Aqua Clear filter so that when I ever need to use the q-tank, I can just take the small filter cartridge out with the media in it and put it into the little filter. Does that sound like a good idea?

I was also considering just putting the small cartridge in the AQ 50 without the little bio media but it would probably be best to just put the small cartridge in the middle of the filter with some bio media in it right?

 

[bitteraspects]

sorry, you lost me. what cartridge are you referring to? if you mean just using a second bag of bio-max pellets in place of the carbon, that will work perfectly. and, yes, in the case you want to seed a new tank, you could remove one of the bags of bio-max and place it in the new tank to help seed it quicker.

 

[MattM1124]

sorry, you lost me. what cartridge are you referring to? if you mean just using a second bag of bio-max pellets in place of the carbon, that will work perfectly. and, yes, in the case you want to seed a new tank, you could remove one of the bags of bio-max and place it in the new tank to help seed it quicker.

Sorry for losing you lol. No I'm referring to one that is like a cartridge that opens at the top that you can put bio media into. It then goes into the filter. Here's a pic of what I mean only the one I would be putting into the Aqua Clear would be smaller than this one shown. I would then also put some bio media into it before adding it into the AQ filter...

 

[bitteraspects]

the bio max pellets are probably too big for that application. you could probably use a few, but because of the way the bag clips into the frame on the bio-bag (the cartridge in the pic you posted), you couldnt hold much. its meant for holding carbon. that type of filter is not meant for bio-filtration.
what you can do, is, like i said, just use an extra bag of biomax in the AC50, and seed it that way. then you would just drop the bio-max pellets directly into the filter behind the bio-bag, rather then put it inside the bag itself.
otherwise, you would just use the frame, and not the top clip. but i would personally just chuck the filter all together and get an AC30.