Substitute for activated carbon.

[Bishop]

I have read that carbon needs to be changed constantly, does anybody know of any alternatives.

I have no idea of the price of activated carbon but I guessing it is not cheap.

[alanmin4304]

Leave it out is the cheapest and best.

[Ira]

I have read that carbon needs to be changed constantly, does anybody know of any alternatives.

Best and cheapest alternative is to replace it with nothing.

[the-obstacle]

as above - the only reason you need carbon is to strip chemicals from the water - usually medication. Unless you have a specific thing you know is in the water that you want to remove it's best to leave the carbon out.

Usually carbon lasts about a week though. I have a container on hand for whenever I've finished treating a disease and need to get the meds out. I've used it once

[Bishop]

wouldn't it then remove chlorine from the water?

No arguments from me I am more than happy to leave it out, only thing is that leaves me with an empty tray in my filter.

I have bio balls and the ceramic ring thingys will I get any advantage of putting something in the middle tray.

Note: all trays have a layer of sponge.

[Joshlikesfish]

You could add more media?

[ryanjury]

If there is chlorine in your water to be removed by the carbon then your fishes gills will already be being burnt so it is too late..

I agree remove the carbon it is not needed, I only add it when I have a purpose like removing meds etc and have had no issues. Some even suggest that it can cause more harm than good by stripping too much out of the water and causing mineral deficiencies in the fish.

[Bishop]

@ Josh: I was aiming at what sort of media, I know there are more than just bio balls ect, I wondered what some of you used in place of carbon.

@ Ryan: Thanks.

[spoon]

some people like to use carbon for ultra clear water but as stated its not a necessary expense

if you were looking for an alternative that lasts longer try seachem purigen

[BikBok]

i stopped using carbon about a month ago and just replaced the empty space with more filter wool.

[Joshlikesfish]

Filter wool, ceramic rings, glass rings, bio balls. Those are all good

[Bishop]

Thanks for the feedback. I like the general consensus not to use the carbon as I am a bit of a tight a$$

The write up on the seachem purigen makes it sound unreal. Might have a look at it just for future reference.

I also read today that you can use zeolite (which is used as kitty litter :lol: ) as a substrate and as carbon alternative.

I need more tanks so I can test all these things.

Thanks for the input guys.

[alanmin4304]

I have never heard of zeolite being used as kitty litter. When I bought it it was super expensive and was an ion exchange resin used to remove calcium and magnesium from water and replace it with sodium ions (reduce the hardness)

[Bishop]

Ha I had to go and double check :roll:

home brand "woolworths" Cat litter is 100% Zeolite

about $3.00 for 6 litres ( no idea why it is measured in litres ) roughly 1 - 2 kgs

If it reduces the hardness It wont help me much. And if it removes calcium and magnesium I don't see it being great for a substrate.

I will see if I can find any other info before I go shoving it in my tanks. 8)

[spoon]

high grade zeolite (not ordinary zeolite cat litter ) is sold as am risd an ammonia remover it can be recharged by soaking in a saturated salt solution its meant absorb ammonia not sure how well it works

[Warren]

I used Purigen for many years. It's expensive to buy initially but it pays for itself very quickly. The write-up about it is accurate. It's amazing stuff. I had about 500g in a trickle filter on my 1200L tank. Without the Purigen the water had quite a yellow tinge after about 2 weeks. With the Purigen it was crystal clear. Looking through the length of the tank (2.4m) it was still perfectly clear.

It lasted about 1 month then needed to be regenerated. I think I had the same Purigen for about 12 years before it started to disolve when being regenerated.

If you divide the purchase cost + 12 years of regeneration chemicals by 12 years, Purigen works out at about 5% of the price of activated carbon. At that price there's no reason not to use it + you'll have a sparkling tank all the time.