mza1979m

I have several newbie questions.
I've been reading about activated carbon and its benefits. I've also seen it at the local fish shop & Wal-Mart, also in my filter cartridge (I use the Aqua-Tech 20-40 filter) between the plastic part and blue spongy material. My question is, how exactly do I go about using it? Do I rip out the blue spongy material, throw out the old carbon, put in the new carbon and glue the blue spongy material back on? I doubt it, so how do I go about actually using this activated carbon?

Speaking of which, this leads me to my second question...
I know you're supposed to regularly clean the filter cartridge with old tank water. I've heard people say they used pressurized water (or something like that) in order to clean it. How is this possible? See, I know how to put old tank water in a bucket, but what is the most effective way of using this old tank water to rinse my filter cartridge? Simply dipping the cartridge into the bucket of water hardly works.
Another question... when I change my filter media, I assume I'm throwing out a lot of beneficial bacteria, is this not true? What is the best way around that, if such a way exists? I read the following on another site:

" If you want to replace a filter insert, leave the sponge or floss in the tank for a week or so beforehand. "

I'm not sure what this means. Which sponge are they talking about? I have 2 "items" in my filter, one that has a rectangular white spongy thing inside a plastic piece, which came with the filter, and then there's the cartridge that I buy, which is a plastic piece with a blue sponge thing and carbon in between. Alos, what is floss? I hear that a lot as well.

I realize these are probably eye rolling questions, but hey, I just started this hobby a week ago I would greatly appreciate any input.

I have 13 fish (2 green cobra guppies, 2 serpae tetras, 5 feeder guppies & 4 other tetras I'm not sure about). 20 Gallon tank, 0.5" gravel, plastic plants, castle, pots, etc. JetStream 3500 air pump with 2 stones. Water temp 79 deg. F.

penna32

in your filter .. it should have came with whats like a spider web type plastic material .. someting you would expect something to get caught in .. this should NOT, i repeat, NOT, be removed .. as for the catriges you buy .. those should be removed ..
after i buy it .. i rinse it off 1 month later .. 1 month from that, i replace it .. this does no harm to your tank in bacteria ways

as for the carbon .. i have no experience .. sorry

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LI HxC

I have the aqua-tech 30-60 for my 20 gallon tank, the bag with the carbon in it should be replaced when it becomes overly dirty, I never really rinse mine, there quite cheap so I just buy new ones and throw out the old cartridge. And as for the plastic piece your talking about its called "Bio-Fiber", don't replace it, I just take it out once every week or two, and rinse it off and thats about it

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20 Gallon FW +
Tri-Color Shark
Boesmani Rainbow
Gold Angelfish
Black Tetra
Threadfin Rainbow

jd@ga

I use carbon in hob and a reactor. This way it can be replaced easily. As far as those carbon made into filter cartridges I rinse them off every two weeks with the hose pipe. The filter cartridges are good until they become worn and torn . The carbon gets worn out alot quicker. I usually just throw the carbon in a mesh bag or a media container and replace that when ever needed. I don`t always use it you can really do without it on some tanks.

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BJP

The same hose I hook to the sink for refilling the tank has a simple inline hose shutoff valve added for a couple bucks. I use that to get pressurized water to gently blast the funk off the cartridges. Weekly is about the maximum I prefer to let them sit filled with waste decomposing and polluting the water. I've rinsed as often as daily and even after every meal on some tanks. The sooner the waste is out of the water, the less time it has to break down and the less important carbon becomes. I reuse the cartridges until they fall apart and if additional carbon is desired, then there's room to shove some DIY baggies made from kneehigh stocking filled with a better grade of carbon purchased in larger containers to save money.

You can get ammonia and nitrite spikes if you let the cartridges sit and then replace them completely. Frequent cleaning keeps the bacteria developing in other places that want be impacted as much when the cartridge is finally replaced. The longer it sits untouched, the more bacteria develop directly on the cartridge and on the waste itself stuck to the cartridge. We've already had a couple threads on this board with people experienceing that exact problem.

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mza1979m

Other places such as where? I'm sure you're probably right, but I mean, when I replace the cartridge, I'm replacing it entirely, so I'm thinking (and please correct me if I'm wrong), no matter how frequently I clean it to allow bacteria to develop in other places, won't those newly developed bacteria be gone when I finally change the cartridge? Aren't those newly developed bacteria developing on the cartridge itself that I'm replacing? Will they not be gone once I replace it? I just need a little clarification, please and thank you.

All your replies are much appreciated.

Tommy Gun

Welcome to the forum mza1979m!

Benificial bacteria are likely to be found on a lot of surfaces in your tank including your substrate, decorations including fake plants, live plants, etc... Simply put, they can take up residence nearly everywhere except for swimming around in the water column.

That said, you can have an impact on where these bacteria grow by ensuring that a specific area recieves a constant food source for them. For example, an under gravel filter is effective because it continually 'pulls' water through a tank's substrate, creating an ideal situation in which the benificial bacteria we are talking about here will thrive (to read more about UGFs, click HERE). The exact same principle occurs in your filter media....the filter is continually having water run in and out of it, through the filter media, so a replenishing supply of food (i.e. ammonia and nitrites) are being passed through it as well. What BJP is getting at here is that the problem with bacteria being located solely in the filter media means that when and if you replace it, you are removing that large portion of bacteria where as if you help promote bacteria to grow in another area which you would be much less likely to remove, you can skip the whole mini-cycle issue or in other words, avoiding another episode of 'new tank syndrome'.

There are a few ways to go about doing this. One method might be to use a powerhead or some similar device to create water flow which is directed at a specific area. Another option, one which I have found to be pretty effective, is to use a substrate heating cable such as the one you can view by clicking HERE. This helps because at it warms the water, while it is under the substrate in the aquarium, it creates water movement, just like the UGF would do only without the issues a UGF would come with.

BJP

Tommy covered most of this pretty well so this may sound a bit redundant.

If you let the cartridge sit and collect waste, the cartridge can become the primary source of bacteria in the tank since it has the thickest colony of bacteria developing on it and even directly on the waste due to the waste supplying a food source in concentrate in the filter which is heavily oxygenated.

Frequent cleaning want stop some bacteria from developing directly on the cartridge but by keeping the quantity down through cleaning you leave more ammonia free to feed bacteria developing in other parts of the tank and filter. Every solid surface is a potential site as Tommy mentioned. By getting the waste out of the system sooner as oppossed to letting it sit around in the cartridge breaking down you also lower the total waste load of the tank reducing the quantity of secondary bacteria types that also compete with the desired ones for oxygen. More oxygen and less competition from secondary bacteria means when you do finally have to replace the cartridge due to wearing out, the remaining bacteria are in a better position to take up the slack for any lost with the cartridge.

This same idea applies to basic cycling also. By skipping the fish and getting a pure ammonia source into the tank on Day 1, you give the desired bacteria everything they need to get going quickly and develop in the primary locations before secondary bacteria can block them out.

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mza1979m

I suppose my question wasn't 100% clear, but in your explanation, your quote above seemed to clear it up for me.

However, I sincerely appreciate all responses and they were all a big help.