Filter

[subopposite]

Just wanted to see how often people change their filter pads. I would guess it could depend on how big your filter is to the tank size and fish load to some degree.
I have a 46 gallon tank with an Emperor 400 filter on it with 2 biowheels. Anyone know how long the charcoal stays active or whatnot in the filter pads? I guess most filter companies say to change once a month. Is this too often? I know how some places say things like that to boost sales. The filter gives my tank all the filtration it should ever need, so I was curious if once a month would be mandatory or if it would still operate at a good level for 2 months. Just curious. Thanks.

 

[Tanked]

I have an emperor 400 on my 55 gallon tank, also an emporer 280 (just so I can over stock a bit) I don't use carbon except to remove meds if neccesary or a few days here and there to keep the water clear. I use floss in place of the carbon and floss in the changeable media containers. I rinse the floss weekly and replace every 4 weeks.

 

[Dragonslair]

A general indication is when the pads get dirty and will not clean when you rise it. Once that happens and you start to return more dirt than you get rid off, that is a sure sign to change the pads. Charcoal, unless it's a super grade should be changed every 2 weeks. (Super grade will take 4 weeks-proves a little expensive) It has a nasty habit of dumping the toxins it's absorbed back into the tank once its full.
A good substitute for charcoal is Bio-Chem zorb.

 

[dolphin]

Hi subopposite

You should not leave the carbon pads in the filter, for over 4 weeks, as Dragon has said, they can dump the harmfull chemicals that they have removed, back into the tank.

As a rule I clean the foam in my large filter every week. The bio media never gets cleaned, (well who would want to clean 900 bio balls?)
My canister filter, on my display tank gets cleaned out about once every 4 months, but it does not contain any carbon.

 

[subopposite]

Tanked,
You don't buy the replacement filter from Emperor then do you. They come with the carbon (i called it charcoal, oops) that you have to rinse first. What does the carbon do for a fish tank anyhow? Just to take out the medications??
I think the only replacement pads that Emperor sells have the carbon in them and I guess that could be a reason they say to change once a month. I am under the impression you cannot rinse or clean the carbon either. Once it is filled, it is no good?
Tanked, where do you get your filters from or how do you go about getting them to go into the slots of the emperor. Thanks for any info I can get. I am just about to buy some more filter pads, but maybe I will do it another way instead.

 

[subopposite]

One last note. I take it the filter floss is the same thing as an emperor pad, but just without the carbon? I am doing quick thinking and the thought of only using one carbon pad and the other side with filter floss sounds like a good idea to me as I have 2 spots to put filter pads in. Also, thanks for the info about the carbon leaking back into the tank. I did not know that and will stay aware of that in the future.

 

[pebbles]

useful topic this one, i change mine when they get 'unrinsable' i rinse them in the tank water i remove. my filter has two pads so i only change one at a time so as to keep some of the bacteria.i knew about taking out the carbon after a week or so but didnt know why so thanks for that info. pebbles

 

[Thomas A. Anderson]

I also replace mine when they get unrinsable but I only change half at a time to preserve some bacteria same as Pebbles.

 

[impur]

subopposite - I also have the emperor 400. After a few weeks of usage from the replacable emperor cartridges, i tore the blue floss off the plastic part. I then cut 2 notches on each side, one towards the top and one towards the bottom. I got some quilt-a-craft quilt batting from walmart for 2 bucks. Then i cut a piece the size of the plastic cartridge from the roll of batting, and use rubber bands to hold it on. The rubber bands sit in the notches i cut out so it will still slide down into the slots in the filter. This stuff is very cheap and easy to replace. Also it gets rid of the nasty carbon. I think 1 role of this stuff will last me a year or so, all for 2 bucks compared to 10 every month or so for the emperor ones.

I think tanked does something similar. You can also use the grey basket cartridge that is designed to hold more carbon and such. If you fill the slots in the basket with filter floss, it will give you just one more way to polish the water.

Here is a link with pictures for you linkage

 

[beltdrive]

Tanked

I don't use carbon except to remove meds if neccesary or a few days. here and there to keep the water clear.

Just a quick one mate, but what do you keep your carbon in when you take it out. :stupid:

 

[impur]

Toss the carbon after you use it. Its only good for a short time. You can purchase cartons of carbon relatively cheap.

 

[The_Budmaster]

i bought a new cheap filter recently as a back-up for our 20 gallon, it has a foam insert in atm & the foam is black instead of the usual white or blue filter foams....is this a carbon filter & should i be taking it out every week for a complete clean-out? also will it remove plant foods from the water?

Cheers for any help

 

[dolphin]

Hi Bud

Foam comes in lots of colours. The black stuff is normaly the most course foam. It does not have carbon in it, (well unless it was sold as carbon inpregnated foam). In my large filter, and I mean large, (115 galls) I have three grades of foam, black-course, white-medium (now orange), and blue-fine.