My filter broke ..... !!

Alright! Thanks loads!

lilac_froggy:

 Great stuff Lilee

You don't need the carbon in. It's good to put in to remove last traces of any meds. Some people use  it all the time to polish the water, but filter wool does an equally good job. Carbon has to be changed every few weeks as it starts to leach nasties back in to the water otherwise.

I sorted your link out as it wasn't open

 

i agree that carbon is not essential but there is no proof that it actually leaches nasties back into the water after a specific time.

the truth is that carbon takes nasties out of the tank and is advised to be used for removing traces of meds and other chemicals. carbon is not essential to the overall efficiency of the filter and the filter will work just as well without carbon. as for the water polishing thing its negligible as well.

i know you are a mod but its not right to bend the truth to worry someone about carbon when nobody has any proof of what you say.

 well that's you told!

I think you are wrong once the carbon becomes saturated it will result in some of the nasties back into the tank, ive lost some fish due to this, and therefore dont use carbon anymore except for medication removeal, if you just want to polish the water filter floss is a better bet. di

 Thanks you for your comments Joffa but the words I wrote were based on what has been written on here many times about carbon and not just by me

So if I am bending the truth so is everyone else.

The fact that I am a mod makes no difference either. I do not know everything and do not profess to know everything and don't write things I have just made up in my head

The use of carbon is a controversiial topic and we have had many discussions about on here.

I am aware that there is an argument as to whether it leaches back or not and have read both sides of the argument.

lilac_froggy:

 Thanks you for your comments Joffa but the words I wrote were based on what has been written on here many times about carbon and not just by me

So if I am bending the truth so is everyone else.

The fact that I am a mod makes no difference either. I do not know everything and do not profess to know everything and don't write things I have just made up in my head

The use of carbon is a controversial topic and we have had many discussions about on here.

I am aware that there is an argument as to whether it leaches back or not and have read both sides of the argument.

 

 

 

i was not trying to be funny i was just saying that there is no scientific proof that carbon actually leaches nasties back into the tank. i totally agree that carbon is not essential but carbon chemically neutralises nasties rather than absorbing like people think. it acts as a breaking down agent of chemicals and in the presence of water it acts like a catalyst and speeds up the breaking down process (this is GCSE Chemistry stuff and science was my favourite subject at school).

as to if its more effective than a biological is negligible and do i use it the answer is no unless I'm setting up a new tank and the filter that i or the person I'm advising/helping buys a filter that has carbon in them in which case use it until the tank is cycled and i always advise to replace with filter wool as i believe the carbon offers no advantage over a full biological filter.

I'm not saying that carbon does not become saturated as the truth is nobody knows (scientifically) because chemically carbon does not alter chemical composition so carbon always remains carbon no matter what chemical is added to it.

my overall advise (now Ive given the chemistry lesson lol) is to use the carbon if suppled with the filter to cycle the tank then replace with filter wool as the carbon has done its job by then by removing the heavy metals, chlorine other chemicals in the tap water and its no longer any use.if the new filter can have the filter wool replaced with the wool from the old filter then its best to use that minus the carbon as no cycle will be needed. as for meds adding carbon will aid the bacteria to break down any traces of meds but again its not essential as water changers can be as/more effective.

sorry if i offended anyone that was not my intention i was only trying to state my point of carbon not absorbing chemicals as such but it actually breaks them down in like a bio filter only not as effective hence the reason its an addition to and solely the filtration method in filters. 

 oooohhhhhhh nnoooooooo................here goes the carbon debate again!!!!!

Actually there is sciantific proof that carbon becomes saturated with what ever it's meant to take out of the water. It doesn't, as people think, work by chemically absorbing the substances it's supposed to be taking out. Instead, it works on a fine seive method, where the micropores in the carbon trap the chemical it's supposed to be taking out. Therefor, when these pores become blocked, they cannot trap any more of the substance it's supposed to be removing.

 hehehe, the age old carbon debate!

Carbon adsorbs not absorbs and so there is no scientific evidence to suggest that it 'leaches' back. However, as adsorption is the binding of substances to the surface of a solid, it would make sense that at some point the surface would be 'covered' and so the adsorption process will slow or stop altogether. At this point it needs replacing. 

Some people have experienced problems with carbon in their tanks over long periods (and not just on this forum) which has led to the 'leaching' theory - there must be an element of truth if the whole of the fishkeeping world are having this discussion (and have been for a long while).

It is also interesting to note the water companies using this method of filtration as a final polishing stage for drinking water (alongside sand bed filtration and other techniques) regularly change the carbon and reactivate it - whether this is because they are worried about leaching or it's just that the carbon is spent I don't know - but every so often you will find blips in water quality in terms of heavy metals in your tap water as people who regularly monitor their tap water will know.

My advice is - it's better to be safe than sorry - you do not need carbon filtration in a freshwater setup, so use it sparingly. In marine set up's where it is used a lot, make sure you regularly change it.

the debate continues.........

 I was just going to say that it both adsorbs and absorbs, but to be honest I have no interest in the stuff so will never say anything about it again LOL

The only thing I didn't care for Joffa was this remark.....

'i know you are a mod but its not right to bend the truth to worry someone about carbon when nobody has any proof of what you say'.No problem with you saying what you think about something, indeed it may be a valid point with something one day. But the mod bit was totally unnecessary.

Hope this doesn't offend you and you understand