Silly Questions (probably), Carbon Sponge...

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Ok well i have a fully functioning hospital/quarentine tank for some time now, i no longer really use meds in the main tank because of this. I put in my old carbon sponge that came with the tank when i bought it, that i have never used, in today- I do alot of water changes but i figured this would be the best way to remove any traces of meds from the water, no matter how small.
I have some questions now though now i am using my carbon sponge;
a. I have heard that the carbon doesn't remove meds forever, what is the average life expectancy of a working carbon sponge if it is in the tank 24/7? How often do you need to replace it?
b. If you take the sponge out and stop using it and let it dry out, will it still work if you put it in again some time later?
c. Does cleaning the sponge squish out the meds from it or do they stay absorbed into it forever?
d. Will the sponge remove other things from the water? I put in liquid multi-mineral/vitamin supliment in my tank water every now and then, will the carbon remove this? What about other so-called "natural" meds like melafix, pimafix and stuff like indian almond leaf extract?

I also found a very fine white cotton like sponge that came with the carbon one, i put this in the filter with it as i figured it would help somehow, does anyone know what it is and what it does? All i know is that its doing a fine job at filtering out the fish poop .
Thanks for your time .

 

[fishing4exotics]

Carbon works until the pores get saturated with impurities. Depending on your tank and amount of carbon it could take a week to a month for the carbon to become saturated. I don't use carbon unless I have to remove toxins in the water in a hurry.

Carbon will absorb meds, trace elements, and herbal meds like MelaFix. It is always recommend that you remove carbon before treating your tank.

Any beneficial bacteria would have died off if you let your sponge filter dry out. Rinse the sponge in tap water to clean off the sludge. Most of the meds will also rinse off. If copper was used try to monitor the copper if any that can leach our of the sponge. Copper is not a problem for freshwater tanks. Except if you are going to keep plants, shrimps, snails, and fish that are sensitive to copper

The white cotton sponge is a mechanical filter media such as fiberglass cotton. It is a disposable filter media. I would throw it away and replace as needed. You are right it is great for fish poop ( detritus ) and other pieces of floating debris in your water.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Cool, thanks for the info, just what i needed to know !
Thanks again .