LVKSPlantlady

Simply put... Use it or lose it in NPT?

davemonkey

Use it at start only if you need to clear up tannins or odors. Otherwise, lose it as it will absord precious ammonia that your plants will want to gobble up.

LVKSPlantlady

Humm OK I will I've been useing it...

davemonkey

If you've already been using it and it's been a few weeks (done what it can and isn't really absorbing much anymore) you can leave it as biological media. But, even that is still not really needed. No harm either, though.

-Dave

LVKSPlantlady

Ok I'll do that, I'll save on filter media!

Cliff Mayes

Threre have been reports that Carbon will release all of its load at one time (no I do not have the reference) thereby presenting a fish hazard so I would, for safetys sake, take it out. It can become a Bio medium after it gets coated and filled up and probably becomes inert (but who knows?.)

Diana K

If activated carbon could 'release its load' so well it would be possible to rejuvenate it at home.
Let it become biomedia.

dwalstad

Charcoal, which is totally inert, absorbs dissolved organic carbons for the first couple weeks. It then becomes a site for bacterial colonization [food plus attachment sites always attract bacteria].

After two weeks, charcoal acts exactly like any filter media you could find (I would guess that its a pretty good filter media, as it has lots of pores, and therefore, considerable surface area). Bacteria grow in it just as they would in filter media.

The only time it would release all its "load" is if the bacteria were suddenly killed. This can happen to any bio-filter. It happened to me when the power went off a few hours and suffocated the filter bacteria in my canister filter. Once bacteria start dying, they release their toxins. This kills more bacteria and you get a "filter meltdown" that can indeed endanger fish.

I don't use charcoal unless I have a specific purporse (remove tannins or antibiotics). However, charcoal is essentially harmless and once in the filter can probably be left there forever. Once I've put charcoal into the filter, I generally forget about it.

shakiraa

Hi all,

Would the activated charcoal filter absorb those nutrien that we add in? ie ADA brighty k, step 1, python git etc etc.

thanks.

Diana K

Activated carbon is more likely to adsorb more complex molecules such as certain organic wastes, pesticides, medications and similar things. It does not seem to remove much of the simple molecules that are plant fertilizers.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/article...and_carbon.php