Activated Carbon question

[Michael]

Can activated carbon used in our aquarium filters be reused if you clean
it, dry it, and then bake it in an oven at 300 degrees?

Or should it just be thrown away?

[Tristan]

Throw it away.......its cheap. There is some products out there that
does the same basic job as activated carbon is used for that can be
rejuvinated quite easily. Puri Gen and Chemi Pure are two of them....
On Sat, 06 Jan 2007 18:22:02 GMT, Michael >
wrote:

<<>>Can activated carbon used in our aquarium filters be reused if you clean
<<>>it, dry it, and then bake it in an oven at 300 degrees?
<<>>
<<>>Or should it just be thrown away?



-------
I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!

[Zebulon]

"Michael" > wrote in message
...
> Can activated carbon used in our aquarium filters be reused if you clean
> it, dry it, and then bake it in an oven at 300 degrees?
>
> Or should it just be thrown away?
==========================
I don't bother with carbons because of all the partial water changes I do.
They remove pollutants. Are you trying to remove something in particular
from the water?
--
ZB....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }<((((*> ~~~ }<{{{{(ö> ~~~~ }<((((({*>

[Michael]

I am trying to remove some medication and lower the organics load. I am
preparing to do a water change, but the water temp here is low and I
don't want to shock the tank temperature wise. (In the summer I do
water changes exclusively). The tank is large so storing water (warming
up to room temp at least) is not practical. I have a great filter
system (series of filters for tap water) which removes chlorine, and a
host of other stuff from tap water.

Zëbulon wrote:
>
> "Michael" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Can activated carbon used in our aquarium filters be reused if you
>> clean it, dry it, and then bake it in an oven at 300 degrees?
>>
>> Or should it just be thrown away?
> ==========================
> I don't bother with carbons because of all the partial water changes I
> do. They remove pollutants. Are you trying to remove something in
> particular from the water?

[Dick]

On Sun, 07 Jan 2007 13:14:44 GMT, Michael >
wrote:

>I am trying to remove some medication and lower the organics load. I am
>preparing to do a water change, but the water temp here is low and I
>don't want to shock the tank temperature wise. (In the summer I do
>water changes exclusively). The tank is large so storing water (warming
>up to room temp at least) is not practical. I have a great filter
>system (series of filters for tap water) which removes chlorine, and a
>host of other stuff from tap water.
>
>Zëbulon wrote:
>>
>> "Michael" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Can activated carbon used in our aquarium filters be reused if you
>>> clean it, dry it, and then bake it in an oven at 300 degrees?
>>>
>>> Or should it just be thrown away?
>> ==========================
>> I don't bother with carbons because of all the partial water changes I
>> do. They remove pollutants. Are you trying to remove something in
>> particular from the water?

I don't use carbon except when there is no choice (prepackaged filter
sleeves).

I don't understand what you are removing, what are "pollutants?"

So far as I can tell, filters hold solids, but the water running over
the solids erodes the solid until it is small enough particles to
return to the tank where the plants and bacteria reprocess it into
useable forms.

I have 5 tanks set up over 3 years. I only wash the filter pads when
they no longer let water through. As far as I can see, the bacteria
remains healthy in the tanks without the bio wheels. I took them off
years ago.

I do partial water changes twice weekly. The 75 and 29 I do with a
Python connected to the kitchen faucet where I can mix hot and cold to
the desired temperature. The three 10 gallon tanks I use a bucket and
syphon then replace with tap water using the buckets to mix the
temperature. I too have water than requires no chemicals to be added.

[Michael]

Granted - water changes are the best way to go to get the best water
quality, but sometimes a water change is not adequate:

1. meds removal
2. PH change due to CO2 injection.

Unless you change ALL of the water and clean the tank, residual meds
will be left behind. Carbon run for 7 days will eliminate it (to near
zero). I inject CO2 and the PH has dropped somewhat. Changing the
water will cause the PH to jump too quickly. Using Carbon allows me
'clean' the water without changing it until I am ready to do it...a
little bit at a time to avoid PH shock.

Dick wrote:
> On Sun, 07 Jan 2007 13:14:44 GMT, Michael >
> wrote:
>
>> I am trying to remove some medication and lower the organics load. I am
>> preparing to do a water change, but the water temp here is low and I
>> don't want to shock the tank temperature wise. (In the summer I do
>> water changes exclusively). The tank is large so storing water (warming
>> up to room temp at least) is not practical. I have a great filter
>> system (series of filters for tap water) which removes chlorine, and a
>> host of other stuff from tap water.
>>
>> Zëbulon wrote:
>>> "Michael" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> Can activated carbon used in our aquarium filters be reused if you
>>>> clean it, dry it, and then bake it in an oven at 300 degrees?
>>>>
>>>> Or should it just be thrown away?
>>> ==========================
>>> I don't bother with carbons because of all the partial water changes I
>>> do. They remove pollutants. Are you trying to remove something in
>>> particular from the water?
>
> I don't use carbon except when there is no choice (prepackaged filter
> sleeves).
>
> I don't understand what you are removing, what are "pollutants?"
>
> So far as I can tell, filters hold solids, but the water running over
> the solids erodes the solid until it is small enough particles to
> return to the tank where the plants and bacteria reprocess it into
> useable forms.
>
> I have 5 tanks set up over 3 years. I only wash the filter pads when
> they no longer let water through. As far as I can see, the bacteria
> remains healthy in the tanks without the bio wheels. I took them off
> years ago.
>
> I do partial water changes twice weekly. The 75 and 29 I do with a
> Python connected to the kitchen faucet where I can mix hot and cold to
> the desired temperature. The three 10 gallon tanks I use a bucket and
> syphon then replace with tap water using the buckets to mix the
> temperature. I too have water than requires no chemicals to be added.
>
>

[atomweaver]

Dick > wrote in
:

> On Sun, 07 Jan 2007 13:14:44 GMT, Michael >
> wrote:
>
>>I am trying to remove some medication and lower the organics load. I
>>am preparing to do a water change, but the water temp here is low and
>>I don't want to shock the tank temperature wise. (In the summer I do
>>water changes exclusively). The tank is large so storing water
>>(warming up to room temp at least) is not practical. I have a great
>>filter system (series of filters for tap water) which removes
>>chlorine, and a host of other stuff from tap water.
>>
>>Zëbulon wrote:
>>>
>>> "Michael" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> Can activated carbon used in our aquarium filters be reused if you
>>>> clean it, dry it, and then bake it in an oven at 300 degrees?
>>>>
>>>> Or should it just be thrown away?
>>> ==========================
>>> I don't bother with carbons because of all the partial water changes
>>> I do. They remove pollutants. Are you trying to remove something in
>>> particular from the water?
>
> I don't use carbon except when there is no choice (prepackaged filter
> sleeves).
>
> I don't understand what you are removing, what are "pollutants?"
>

Zebulon was probably referring to metal ions, which fresh carbon is
very efficient at removing. Think ich medications...(copper-based
treatments), and lead-contaminated water. Carbon is efficient at
removing organic waste and clarifying water, too. The problem in
aquarium type applications is the high variability in different carbon
types. If you have a consistent source for carbon, then it can be a
good filtration tool. If not, its usually a waste of time. Once
carbon gets fully loaded, it basically serves no further purpose,
except as a surface for bacteria to grow on.

I get bone charcoal from my LFS, which the store owner (a fantastic and
knowedgable guy) has sourced from the exact same supply for 22 years.
In a heavily planted FW tank that I have tannin "issues" with, I put 1/4
cup of his bone charcoal in the filter, and replace it monthly with
fresh media. My "tea water" issue is resolved perfectly by this, and it
works out to less than 50 cents a month in media cost.

Another example of good use of carbon: If you have FW inverts, and you
need to treat the tank with, say, copper malachite for ich, the best
course of action is to remove your inverts to a quarrantine system, and
run the course of treatment on the main tank. When the ich is gone, you
run fresh activated carbon in your filter for a day or three before
returning your inverts to the tank. You'd remove the carbon at this
time, to prevent possible later leaching of copper back to the tank.
Since inverts are Super-sensitive to copper, they cannot come anywhere
near most copper based meds. I hear the same holds for some fish
species (...loaches, maybe? I can't remember, for certain), which can
only take lower treatment levels, and you should remove the copper
quickly, once the ich cycle is defeated. These are the sorts of things
carbon is good for...

Regards
DaveZ
Atom Weaver

[Zebulon]

"Michael" > wrote in message
. net...
>I am trying to remove some medication and lower the organics load. I am
>preparing to do a water change, but the water temp here is low and I don't
>want to shock the tank temperature wise.

You don't have heated water in your home? I take *warm water* right from
the tap, dechlorinate it (no chlorimines here) and put it straight in the
tank. :-)

(In the summer I do
> water changes exclusively). The tank is large so storing water (warming
> up to room temp at least) is not practical. I have a great filter system
> (series of filters for tap water) which removes chlorine, and a host of
> other stuff from tap water.
--
ZB....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }<((((*> ~~~ }<{{{{(ö> ~~~~ }<((((({*>

[Zebulon]

"Michael" > wrote in message
et...
> Granted - water changes are the best way to go to get the best water
> quality, but sometimes a water change is not adequate:
>
> 1. meds removal
> 2. PH change due to CO2 injection.
>
> Unless you change ALL of the water and clean the tank, residual meds will
> be left behind. Carbon run for 7 days will eliminate it (to near zero).
> I inject CO2 and the PH has dropped somewhat. Changing the water will
> cause the PH to jump too quickly. Using Carbon allows me 'clean' the
> water without changing it until I am ready to do it...a little bit at a
> time to avoid PH shock.
===================
Please check this out but I was told that carbon does not remove *all*
pollutants from water. To remove meds I do large water changes over a few
days. But I can see that would be a problem for you. How about 10% for a
week or so?
--
ZB....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }<((((*> ~~~ }<{{{{(ö> ~~~~ }<((((({*>

[Altum]

Michael wrote:
> Can activated carbon used in our aquarium filters be reused if you clean
> it, dry it, and then bake it in an oven at 300 degrees?

I'm not sure anyone ever answered your question. To reactivate spent
carbon it has to be heated in a steam kiln to 1600F, as when it was
first activated.

--Altum

[atomweaver]

Zëbulon > wrote in
:

>
> "Michael" > wrote in message
> . net...
>>I am trying to remove some medication and lower the organics load. I
>>am preparing to do a water change, but the water temp here is low and
>>I don't want to shock the tank temperature wise.
>
> You don't have heated water in your home? I take *warm water* right
> from the tap, dechlorinate it (no chlorimines here) and put it
> straight in the tank. :-)
>

Classic advice says that warm tap water for water changes is ill-advised,
if you have copper pipes. Copper transports into the hot water pipes/tank
at a level unnoticed by/harmless to people, but potentially troublesome for
long-term fish health. Most of that transfer happens at the significantly
higher temperatures in your HW tank, but also from laying hot in the copper
line (which is why the cold water line is preferred).
I hear that copper leaching may be lessened with newer HW "on-demand"
systems, because exposure time at elevated temperature is reduced.

Meh. If your tap water chemical treatment has a metal chelator in it, it
should take care of almost all the copper in there.

$0.02

DZ
AW

[Zebulon]

"atomweaver" > wrote in message
...
> Zëbulon > wrote in
>> You don't have heated water in your home? I take *warm water* right
>> from the tap, dechlorinate it (no chlorimines here) and put it
>> straight in the tank. :-)
>>
> Classic advice says that warm tap water for water changes is ill-advised,
> if you have copper pipes. Copper transports into the hot water pipes/tank
> at a level unnoticed by/harmless to people, but potentially troublesome
> for
> long-term fish health. Most of that transfer happens at the significantly
> higher temperatures in your HW tank, but also from laying hot in the
> copper
> line (which is why the cold water line is preferred).
> I hear that copper leaching may be lessened with newer HW "on-demand"
> systems, because exposure time at elevated temperature is reduced.

I had heard about the "copper connection" some time back. But read that it
will also leech into cold water as well, perhaps not as much. I got around
that by letting a few gallons go before using the water - flushing the
pipes. I'd catch them in a bucket for my houseplants. Nothing goes to
waste in my house. :-) The pipes in *this* house are the plastic type.

> Meh. If your tap water chemical treatment has a metal chelator in it, it
> should take care of almost all the copper in there.

--
ZB....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }<((((*> ~~~ }<{{{{(ö> ~~~~ }<((((({*>

[atomweaver]

Zëbulon > wrote in
:

> I had heard about the "copper connection" some time back. But read
> that it will also leech into cold water as well, perhaps not as much.

Yeah, that part is real enough, i learnt the hard way (I've got copper
pipes, hot and cold). Warm tap water changes to my first tank would
invariably kill any snails I had in there. When I switched to cold tap
water plus a treatment with a metal chelator, the problem went away. I'm
too much of a coward to try cold tap water without chemical treatment...
;-)

> I got around that by letting a few gallons go before using the water -
> flushing the pipes. I'd catch them in a bucket for my houseplants.
> Nothing goes to waste in my house. :-) The pipes in *this* house
> are the plastic type.
>
Had I only known when I had my house built that I'd be so deep into the
aquarium hobby, I actually might've gotten something other than copper
installed. ;-)

DZ
AW