fishy-fish Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 I just removed a rather large bag of charcoal (maybe a kg or so) from one of the trays in my canister filter. It's been in there for well over 6mths, probably closer to a year, so my question is - how long does carbon remain effective? If you remove if from the filter and store it, does it become ineffective out of water, or will it recharge it? Does washing it help to renew it? Or is it more of a "oncer" product that you replace frequently? It just seems like a waste of a crap load of carbon to through it out :dunno: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Activated charcoal is a one shot product ... though some people say you can wash it and crush it to try and expose new surface areas for use. Sitting there for 6 months it was more likely acting as a biological filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 It just soaks in the crap that it needs to and then sits there, there are some theories that it can actually release it again.. Regardless unless you are adding it for a reason (remove meds etc) then just take it out and bin it it isn't needed. Some even go as far as to say it can cause more issues than it is worth if used all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabid Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 at 6$ a kg you just replace all the time its like filter wool the cost is nothing compared to the effectiveness of a fresh batch. It wasnt always this cheap though, I used to bake it in the oven and use it again, seemed to work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 I've heard so many bad reports about charcoal that I don't use it at all anymore. Some people say that once it has reached its capacity, it will release everything back into the water (unsure about this one), but the micro-cavities definitely do fill up quite quickly. My advice to anyone using charcoal is to only use it as you need it (e.g. to remove medicines after treatment) and then bin it after <1 week. Personally, my first treatment for fish is always salt and then maybe Melafix. Since both are 'organic' treatments which are relatively mild compared to other treatments, I don't need to rush to remove it from the water. But even then, I prefer to remove them through regular water changes instead of using charcoal. Some people also say that prolonged exposure to charcoal leads to hole in the head disease in cichlids, that's why most cichlid-keepers tend to avoid it, just in case. If you're thinking about using charcoal as a biological media, ceramic noodles are a much safer and cheaper option (in the long run). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 I agree with the above comments. I don't run carbon and tell most people not to bother with it unless removing meds. It does help polish the water though. I personally run lots of noodles along with a bag or 2 of purigen. Purigen is something I wouldn't go without now and it is well capable of polishing the water a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 It lasts about 3 seconds---as long as it takes me to biff it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally07 Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 It lasts about 3 seconds---as long as it takes me to biff it. Fore! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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