What Is Activated Carbon?

[louis_23]

about to add some white spot treatment to my biorb, is there activated carbon in the filter what ever that is lol what dose it look like is it the little black and white stones that sit under the sponge?

 

[saltynay]

Activated carbon removes chemicals from the water and only lasts for a short while before all the carbon is reacted, after this it just becomes biological filtration media to house the good bacteria. You should not have a fresh piece (put in the filter less then 2 weeks ago) of activated carbon in the filter when medicating as it may remove part of the chemicals within the medicine resulting in no or incomplete treatment of the problem. It can be used to remove medication after treatment to stop possible stress that the medication may have on the fish.

 

[louis_23]

Activated carbon removes chemicals from the water and only lasts for a short while before all the carbon is reacted, after this it just becomes biological filtration media to house the good bacteria. You should not have a fresh piece (put in the filter less then 2 weeks ago) of activated carbon in the filter when medicating as it may remove part of the chemicals within the medicine resulting in no or incomplete treatment of the problem. It can be used to remove medication after treatment to stop possible stress that the medication may have on the fish.

ok thanx what dose it look like?

 

[loraxchick]

its the black little stones. agreed that unless it is relatively new (less than a few weeks old) it will have lost it's "activation" and ability to absorb chemicals like meds. so if its not "new" you an just leave it in there.
cheers

 

[saltynay]

Comes in lots of forums but the whole idea is that it is very porous to give maximum surface area to react with other chemicals on. You can get it as very fine gravel to large pellets, loose string web to a sponge or anything in between. As it is so porous it makes excellent bio filtration once the carbon is non-reactive.

 

[backtotropical]

The benefits of activated carbon are really negligible. I wouldn't ever use it. It's really just a waste of money. It doesn't do anything a water change doesn't do, but has several downsides. Most filter manufacturers provide it with a new filter in the hope that you will continue using it and replace it periodically. This obviously earns them cash, so they have a good motive for doing so.

Its not really a good idea to leave it in the filter long-term to act as biological media. Replacing it with media specifically designed for biological filtration is far more effective, as saturated carbon can leach toxins back into the water.

There is an interesting thread about it in the scientific section, if you're interested.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=250164

Hope that helps.

BTT