Removed Carbon Filter

[charlton]

after noticing last night that the water flow through my filter way quite low i decided to give it a good clean today. Its a jewel filter and i cleaned the fine white filter in the tank water i'd removed, didn't clean it vigorously but enough to improve the flow. While i was at it i removd the carbon filter cos i'd read on here they're not needed and can cause problems i'll be buying another for use as and when i have to use medication !! After testing my nitrItes though they're still below .25 but have raised slightly, is this quite common or have i done something wrong ?

cheers

charlton

 

[Colin_T]

if you are getting nitrite readings then something has upset the filter, or the filter has not finished developing yet. it might be because you removed the carbon filter which housed a lot of the good bacteria.
Cut the feeding back for a few days and see how the nitirite goes. If it starts to go up then do some partial water changes using dechlorinated water with a similar temperature and PH to the tank.

Carbon can be used if you want but most people only use it after treating with medications. They put the carbon in for a few days to absorb the chemicals. Then they remove it and throw it away.
You can normally buy spare filter foams and pads to go in filters. I use a couple of foam blocks and no carbon.

 

[charlton]

if you are getting nitrite readings then something has upset the filter, or the filter has not finished developing yet. it might be because you removed the carbon filter which housed a lot of the good bacteria.
Cut the feeding back for a few days and see how the nitirite goes. If it starts to go up then do some partial water changes using dechlorinated water with a similar temperature and PH to the tank.

Carbon can be used if you want but most people only use it after treating with medications. They put the carbon in for a few days to absorb the chemicals. Then they remove it and throw it away.
You can normally buy spare filter foams and pads to go in filters. I use a couple of foam blocks and no carbon.

cheers for your reply colin, it is a newly cycled tank but the nitrites had been at 0 for several weeks now and were fine this morning so it seemed like to much of a coinsidence, i'll keep an eye on it a change water accordingly !!! just wanted to make sure i hadn't done something that i shouldn't of !!!

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Charlton,

It sounds like removing the carbon sponge has been your un-doing. In the Juwel filters the carbon sponge has a large proportion of the volume of the total biological media (unfortunately the bacteria don't do as they are told and they colonise the carbon sponge too). This being the case, removing the carbon sponge will have removed a good portion of your bacteria, hence your nitrite spike.

The filter bacteria multiply at around 100% per day, so the nitrite spike should be short lived. As colin says, cut back feeding meantime and counter the nitrite with large water changes. The good news is that you probably had an ammonia spike too which your filter took care of before you even noticed, and you've had no deaths.

Keep an eye on ammonia and nitrite for around 7 days to be sure, and do water changes as required to keep both levels below 0.25. I reckon your filter should catch up within 24 - 48 hours.

With regard to removing the carbon, i suggest that it's the right thing to do. Carbon will usually become exhausted in anything from a few days to around 6 weeks depending on the concentration of pollutants to be removed. After this time, the carbon can leach chemicals back into the water so it is important to replace it regularly if you use it. This all costs money (Juwel are rubbing their hands together here) and is an unnecessary expense. Again, to back up Colin, carbon isn't usually required for day-to-day filtration and is most useful after medication.

The long and short of it is basically that carbon won't remove anything that a good water change routine can't, and a good water change routine has many many more benefits.

Hope this helps you.

Cheers

BTT

 

[charlton]

tested the nitrite again this morning and it was definately lowering then tested again tonight and its back to 0 again, hopefully thats it all done with now !! i'll look into getting another sponge to replace the carbon i took out but is this really necessary if the filters coping ok as it is ? girlfriend can't believe how excited i get about watching a test tube changing colour !!

cheers

 

[Chrispixx]

Is the carbon insert a sponge or pellets in a bag? If its a sponge then try to find a non-carbon sponge from another brand of filter. Aqua-Clear has sponges, then find the closest size or bigger and trim it to fit. This way you will have more media area all around, with out having to use carbon. Carbon is only really necessary after medicating, or when you need to remove odor.

 

[Colin_T]

girlfriend can't believe how excited i get about watching a test tube changing colour !!

LOL
you would wet yourself working in a petshop then. People coming in all day wanting their water tested.
OOOOH pretty colours