Filter pads without carbon

[FishLuvr]

frrom what i have gathered, carbon should not be used unless you are trying to remove chemicals/med from teh tank, else it is pointless and if left to long it will leech toxins back into the tank. With that in mind where do you find filter pads that do not contain the carbon packs. I have a penguin biowhell 150 and every filter pad i have seen contains the carbon packs as well, someone suggested to cut the container open and empty the carbon, however i see that as a waste as i may need the carbon some day.

If anyone in the us can maybe post a link to the appropriate filter pad without carbon that i can use for the penguin 150 or give me another suggestion i would apreciate it.

I did see something like filter floss at petsmart. look kind of like a big cotton wad, would that do?

thanks
kevin

 

[revfred]

Filter wool or filter loss is an old media. IMO it's one of the best. It's cheap so you can replace it often. If you choose to take the carbon out of your cartridges... you can save it for when you need it, stuff the cartridge full of filter wool.

 

[FishLuvr]

wow thanks for the fast response. Okay so im guessing the stuff i saw at petsmart was the correct stuff then thanks

 

[revfred]

One more thing I forgot. You can discard the filter wool, but if I remember what the cartridge looks like, don't discard the cartridge itself as the outer part of the filter contains your bacteria colony. If it gets really gunky, swish it around in some aquarium water ... don't rinse it in the tank tho.

 

[lil_shez]

question about carbon

i have an aqua one aquarium and it has filter wool and carbon underneath that and then ceramic noodles.
Am i suppose to buy a whole new filter pad (wool and carbon) every 8 weeks?
This seems quite costly

 

[FishLuvr]

carbon only needs to be in the tank if your trying to remove chemicals and or medications, otherwise take the carbon out. Carbon is "activated' and over time it will "deactivate" and leech the toxins back into the tank.

As for your filter pad, as long as it is not falling apart theres no need to discard it, all of your "good" bacteria is on that, what you can do to remove debris is when you do a water change in the tank, dip HALF of the pad in and swirl it around to remove the debris, then at the next change, do it for the other half. this way keeps your bacteria from dying off.

 

[bubblecandy]

someone once told me to dip the filter into the tank several times to shake off some off the bacteria before changing it so that the bacteria is not completely lost. What do you think about that?

 

[FroggyFox]

If you're going to change your filter pad/cartridge etc....the important thing is to leave SOMETHING the same in the tank. many filters have that 2nd sponge in them....you never change the sponge or even rinse it out, but you can change the filter cartridge.

Honestly...I dont change filter cartridges until they start blocking up the water flow shortly after I rinse them off with a water change...and it usually takes at least 6 months for that to happen....sometimes longer.

If your filter doesnt have that 2nd sponge....its a good idea to change cartridges, and leave the old one in the filter behind the new one for a couple of days. Or if you have the type of cartridge that opens up into a pouch, you could invest in some ceramic cylinders (usually found at your LFS) that hold bacteria because they're very porus. Then every time you change filter cartridges, transfer the ceramic pieces from the old to the new, so that you're not replacing ALL of your bacteria at the same time. If you MUST completely get rid of the old sponge...at least put the new one in place and squeeze the heck out of the old one so that some of that gunk (and hopefully some bacteria) gets attached to the new filter.

I dont see why you couldn't swish your entire filter media in old tank water at the same time to clean it off.

 

[Balloon Fish]

theres been a lot of discussion on the carbon and if it really does release toxins back out but i personanly have used the same filter pad with the old carbon in a media basket for a long time and all my fish are still healthy so i seriously doubt it will release toxins but if it does it'll probably take 6 months to a year to really start releasing toxins which wont be a problem because i'm sure you will want to change the pad after its half a year old...

 

[f8fan]

Lotus posted this link a while back, and it's all I use now for my filters (with no carbon).
Check it out, it's a great money saving way to filter your tanks....
http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=5

 

[Balloon Fish]

ya thats what i was planning on doing for my emperor cause it's almost $5 per pad...and it looks easier to clean cause you can just take it off and squeeze it then rubberband it back

 

[bubblecandy]

I wonder if that would work for me. I have the kind that looks like a pouch. I was told today at my LFS that I shoud use carbon for the filter I have. I'm still somewhat confused.. anyways I think I have a big problem going on cause I have to change my filter every month and a half. It seems like you guys are changing a lot less than I. Hmmm

 

[lil_shez]

Froggy fox: i have ceramic noodles underneath the cartridge so doesnt that mean thats where all my good bacteria builds up any way ???
So changing the cartridge (filter wool and carbon) want have n e effect on losing good bacteria?

And also my filter wool looks quite dirty after a month ...even though it looks dirty does that mean it still has heaps of use left?
(its reasonably new tank)

 

[preggoguppo]

i was told to rinse the filter pad off with cool water so it doesnt kill the bacteria, so thats what i do...

 

[FroggyFox]

Froggy fox: i have ceramic noodles underneath the cartridge so doesnt that mean thats where all my good bacteria builds up any way ???
So changing the cartridge (filter wool and carbon) want have n e effect on losing good bacteria?

And also my filter wool looks quite dirty after a month ...even though it looks dirty does that mean it still has heaps of use left?
(its reasonably new tank)

I think that means that its where SOME of your good bacteria builds up. Bacteria builds up on any porus surfaces of your tank that water flows past...so that means that its most likely to colonize on your filter media as all of the water HAS to flow past it . I think if you change the filter wool you should be fine. BUT even if the filter wool looks dirty...its really for mechanical filtration (physically taking chunks of nastyness out of the water) right? So if its dirty and you rinse it all off in tank water and put it back in...and next water change its dirty again...its still doing its job right? I usually only change them when they get dirty too fast and slows down the water flow of the filter (which is very bad on your filter). That shows me that a lot of stuff in the filter floss isn't coming out when I just rinse the cartridge.

i was told to rinse the filter pad off with cool water so it doesnt kill the bacteria, so thats what i do...

As long as its DECHLORINATED water, thats fine...this is why most people rinse them in used tank water. The point of saying "cool" water is because people have a tendency to think "I'll just run it under really hot water in the sink because that will "clean" it." Sure enough it'll clean it...and kill all of your bacteria. Bacteria is strong stuff...but chlorine will kill it...as will extremely high or low temperatures.