Carbon In Filter

[codeajohnson]

Hello everyone,

So, after advice from other members I have decided to take the carbon out of my filter. I plan on using it for a 48 hour cycle at the end of every month just to remove anything that isn't needed in the tank. I was wondering if I had to throw this carbon away every time, or if I could just dry it out and reuse it again the next month? I don't know what the life expectancy is for carbon in the tanks? Thanks for any advice!

 

[waterdrop]

Carbon works for about 3 days and then its time to throw it and the stuff it has adsorbed out of your water out into the trash can. You keep it on the shelf for special cases. Its used to remove medications, to remove yellow tannins from bogwood, to remove unusual organic smells, stuff like that. Its not used under normal circumstances. You use the extra space in your filter for more biomedia and more bacteria!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Codeajohnson,

I agree with Waterdrop, carbon is unnecessary for day-to-day filtration. It is a good idea to run carbon for 48 hours every so often to remove anything which may have sneaked into the tank, but i wouldn't advise drying it out and keeping it.

Once it has been used once, bin it, and use fresh carbon next time. This is because, once it becomes saturated, it can start to exude the toxins back out. It's not really expensive, so not really worth the risk IMO.

Cheers

BTT

 

[codeajohnson]

Sounds good! Thanks for the replies!