Charcoal?

[Beavo68]

My eclipse system has a place for the charcoal/floss pad, after that, the water goes through the bio wheel and back in the tank. I read on another post that some folks don't use the charcoal. Is it necessary or not? I could stuff that "pad area" with a whole bunch of the (cheap!) blue floss stuff - I just assumed that charcoal was necessary. Also, I've read here that many say to keep those pads in for months at a time, but the manufacturer says the charcoal is only active for, like, 2 weeks and that is why the pad needs replacing. Help!!!!

 

[thecichlidaddict]

That is a judgment call for you to make yourself. I haven't used carbon in many years. Water conditioners take care of any harmful elements in the water. I also live in a place where tap water is pretty good.

Carbon does need to be replaced regularly, one per month at most. If you really want it to be effective at all times then every 2 weeks is best.

 

[gixer]

I dont use carbon unless for some reason i have previously added meds to the tank and i use carbon to remove any traces.

if carbon is not replaced regulary it will leach back all the stuff it has filtered out back into the tank.

i find it much easier (and cheaper) to not bother with it.

 

[Bol]

Manufacturers recommend changing Activated Carbon cartridges after a few weeks because after that time their surfaces are generally "full" of toxins, and at that point they basically do no more good than any other porous material would. Plus, they make more money that way.

if carbon is not replaced regulary it will leach back all the stuff it has filtered out back into the tank.

This, from what I've learned, is for the most part a myth. I've never found any references to evidence that backs up this "desorption" claim under aquarium conditions, with the following exception:

Some substances which are bound to the AC by a weak bond will be released if the AC encounters substances for which it has a greater affinity. In effect, the bonded substances will be swapped. Even this process doesn't happen instantly under normal conditions, so no "toxin dump" happens.

I'm no expert in this field, and could be wrong, but with a lack of evidence I'd have to put the idea in the "myth" category.

 

[SaltyMist]

The carbon poly pad will help to keep the tank sparkling clear. I run one in my eclipse 12, as well as I also run an extra charcoal pad (I think they are actually made for fluvals or eheims, but fit my filter bed) underneath the stock filter pad for extra polishing of the water. Something you might be able to do, is to buy the carbon pads, and lay them on the bottom of the filter bed, then get the polyblue material and lay that on top, though I think when all is said and done, it still might be cheaper to just buy the cartridges and know that there is very little bypass around them. Im not sure exactly how the other eclipses work compared to mine, but on my 12 system the cartridge leaves a small amount of liquid space under it for the water to flow down to the biowheel, I think this ensures that the water comes into full contact with all the charcoal. When I put in the extra carbon pad, it just forces the water through it as well. (our water looks sucky where I live)

I've found my cartridge gets gunked up long before 2 weeks time with debris and small amounts of uneaten food, and long before the carbon is no longer activated, it's time to change my cartridge.

 

[Beavo68]

Thanks all! Our water is pretty hard around here - I'll try the eclipse pad and maybe toy with some extra stuff in there too. Gotta love the sparkly water