Charcoal

[Dick]

I have noticed several times the subject of the value of charcoal in a
filter has been discussed. I have charcoal in the power filters for
five tanks, but don't change it very often. I usually rinse the
cartridges and reuse them unless they restrict the water flow. Then I
change cartridge including the charcoal. Probably every 3 months.

Then there is the subject of fish "poo." I don't vacuum the bottom of
my tanks and four of my tanks the power filter intake doesn't even
reach the bottom. The fourth tank is 75 gallons and has two 330 power
filters with the intake on the bottom.

I see no difference whether the intake is mid tank or on the bottom.
Other than 20% weekly water changes I have no maintenance other than
the occasional cartridge changes. All of my tanks have live plants of
varying density. Three of the tanks have heavy populations, over the
1 inch/gallon formula. The tanks have been established between 12 to
18 months. All seem to function in a healthy manner.

To the question; "how important is charcoal to tank health?"

[NetMax]

"Dick" > wrote in message
...
> I have noticed several times the subject of the value of charcoal in a
> filter has been discussed. I have charcoal in the power filters for
> five tanks, but don't change it very often. I usually rinse the
> cartridges and reuse them unless they restrict the water flow. Then I
> change cartridge including the charcoal. Probably every 3 months.
>
> Then there is the subject of fish "poo." I don't vacuum the bottom of
> my tanks and four of my tanks the power filter intake doesn't even
> reach the bottom. The fourth tank is 75 gallons and has two 330 power
> filters with the intake on the bottom.
>
> I see no difference whether the intake is mid tank or on the bottom.
> Other than 20% weekly water changes I have no maintenance other than
> the occasional cartridge changes. All of my tanks have live plants of
> varying density. Three of the tanks have heavy populations, over the
> 1 inch/gallon formula. The tanks have been established between 12 to
> 18 months. All seem to function in a healthy manner.
>
> To the question; "how important is charcoal to tank health?"

I wouldn't worry about it too much, as you're tank recipe sounds like
it's working fine (why mess with a working system? ;~). In your
situation, I might check pH periodically (at a rate indicated by how low
your kH starts at). The doctrine is that activated carbon will exhaust
itself (saturate) at a rate which corresponds to the concentration of
material exposure of the products which it can adsorb. Industry standard
is 2 months. In water which contains high levels of something which
carbon adsorbs (ie: some inorganic toxin), this can be shortened to days.
At several months, I've read that the molecular bond holding the elements
to the carbon will begin to weaken, so they get released back into your
water, so it does make sense to throw your carbon away periodically. The
plant enthusiasts often don't use carbon as it is supposed to remove some
minerals which are utilized by plants, ymmv. hth
--
www.NetMax.tk

[David J. Braunegg]

The literature that comes with Mardel Laboratories medications (e.g.,
Maracyn) says that charcoal that has been in place longer than 6 days does
not need to be removed before medicating. I've taken that to mean that the
useful life of the charcoal is about 6 days.

Dave

"NetMax" > wrote in message
. ..
> The doctrine is that activated carbon will exhaust
> itself (saturate) at a rate which corresponds to the concentration of
> material exposure of the products which it can adsorb. Industry standard
> is 2 months. In water which contains high levels of something which
> carbon adsorbs (ie: some inorganic toxin), this can be shortened to days.
> At several months, I've read that the molecular bond holding the elements
> to the carbon will begin to weaken, so they get released back into your
> water, so it does make sense to throw your carbon away periodically.

[Dick]

On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 09:20:12 -0500, Dick >
wrote:

>I have noticed several times the subject of the value of charcoal in a
>filter has been discussed. I have charcoal in the power filters for
>five tanks, but don't change it very often. I usually rinse the
>cartridges and reuse them unless they restrict the water flow. Then I
>change cartridge including the charcoal. Probably every 3 months.
>
>Then there is the subject of fish "poo." I don't vacuum the bottom of
>my tanks and four of my tanks the power filter intake doesn't even
>reach the bottom. The fourth tank is 75 gallons and has two 330 power
>filters with the intake on the bottom.
>
>I see no difference whether the intake is mid tank or on the bottom.
>Other than 20% weekly water changes I have no maintenance other than
>the occasional cartridge changes. All of my tanks have live plants of
>varying density. Three of the tanks have heavy populations, over the
>1 inch/gallon formula. The tanks have been established between 12 to
>18 months. All seem to function in a healthy manner.
>
>To the question; "how important is charcoal to tank health?"


Has anyone just not used charcoal? Although I seldom change my
charcoal, I have not stopped using it altogether.

[Justin Boucher]

I can almost say that I've never used charcoal. I mean almost because I
have used it twice (I think) to kep clear up the tank after a medication
period. I thought it was more work than necessary setting up the charcoal
filter bin rather than just doing several large water changes to clear out
the meds. Not to mention the additional expense of buying the charcoal.

Justin

"Dick" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 09:20:12 -0500, Dick >
> wrote:
>
> >I have noticed several times the subject of the value of charcoal in a
> >filter has been discussed. I have charcoal in the power filters for
> >five tanks, but don't change it very often. I usually rinse the
> >cartridges and reuse them unless they restrict the water flow. Then I
> >change cartridge including the charcoal. Probably every 3 months.
> >
> >Then there is the subject of fish "poo." I don't vacuum the bottom of
> >my tanks and four of my tanks the power filter intake doesn't even
> >reach the bottom. The fourth tank is 75 gallons and has two 330 power
> >filters with the intake on the bottom.
> >
> >I see no difference whether the intake is mid tank or on the bottom.
> >Other than 20% weekly water changes I have no maintenance other than
> >the occasional cartridge changes. All of my tanks have live plants of
> >varying density. Three of the tanks have heavy populations, over the
> >1 inch/gallon formula. The tanks have been established between 12 to
> >18 months. All seem to function in a healthy manner.
> >
> >To the question; "how important is charcoal to tank health?"
>
>
> Has anyone just not used charcoal? Although I seldom change my
> charcoal, I have not stopped using it altogether.

[Andy Hill]

Dick > wrote:
>Has anyone just not used charcoal? Although I seldom change my
>charcoal, I have not stopped using it altogether.
>
I've never used charcoal. Current tank's been running (and healthy) for about
5 years now. Other tanks have gone longer. I've never had a catastrophic
die-off. Water changes and keeping the gravel clean are key.

[Gail Futoran]

"Andy Hill" > wrote in message
...
> Dick > wrote:
> >Has anyone just not used charcoal? Although I seldom
change my
> >charcoal, I have not stopped using it altogether.
> >
> I've never used charcoal. Current tank's been running
(and healthy) for about
> 5 years now. Other tanks have gone longer. I've never
had a catastrophic
> die-off. Water changes and keeping the gravel clean are
key.

I used to use charcoal but don't anymore (about 3
years now). Sick fish go into a hospital tank. If I
do treatments and they survive, I'll use charcoal to
clear out the meds, so I keep some on hand for that
purpose alone.

I would use charcoal on a main tank if for some
reason I needed to clear out meds after treating an
entire tank, but I'm hoping frequent PWCs,
monitoring water quality, & quarantining new fish
will let me avoid that. :)

Gail

[Dick]

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 13:26:20 -0600, Andy Hill >
wrote:

>Dick > wrote:
>>Has anyone just not used charcoal? Although I seldom change my
>>charcoal, I have not stopped using it altogether.
>>
>I've never used charcoal. Current tank's been running (and healthy) for about
>5 years now. Other tanks have gone longer. I've never had a catastrophic
>die-off. Water changes and keeping the gravel clean are key.

Good to hear that charcoal can be used for special purposes and not as
a needed item.

I don't vacuum the gravel. Besides having heavy plant growth, I just
don't see anything to vacuum. Even my quarantine tank which I keep
occupied and which has no gravel, the bottom has nothing but algae. I
anchor plants with lead weights. The Whisper Jr filter intake tube
doesn't reach more than midway to the bottom. I have tried to vacuum
the bottom, but cannot see any debris in the bucket. I think the
wastes are dissolving and a natural cycle is happening.

dick

[Andy Hill]

Dick > wrote:
>I don't vacuum the gravel. Besides having heavy plant growth, I just
>don't see anything to vacuum. Even my quarantine tank which I keep
>occupied and which has no gravel, the bottom has nothing but algae. I
>anchor plants with lead weights. The Whisper Jr filter intake tube
>doesn't reach more than midway to the bottom. I have tried to vacuum
>the bottom, but cannot see any debris in the bucket. I think the
>wastes are dissolving and a natural cycle is happening.
>
Yeah, back when I had planted tanks, I didn't gravel vac unless I saw crud on
the surface of the gravel (very seldom) -- it disturbed the plants too much.
Had to do smaller water changes, too, since the plants got all tore up if I did
anything much more than a 10% change. Course, the plants do such a nice job of
cleaning a lot of the waste products out that water changes aren't nearly as
necessary.

OTOH, my current tank is unplanted, and when I stick the Python into the gravel
(every few weeks), it takes a good 10 seconds for the cloud of "stuff" to clear
out of the intake. Gravel cleaning's a necessity on that tank.