Carbon

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MarkW19

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
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In my little internal filter for my 10g, there's a small basket currently with some carbon balls in it, inside a little filter bag.

Today I'm replacing the carbon in it for the first time, but I was wondering if I actually need the bag? The basket actually has a lid on, which doesn't look like it will come off very easily! And the carbon balls are fairly large anyway, so would find it hard getting out of the basket and out of my spraybar etc.

I can rinse the filterbag, but it would be much easier and cleaner to just drop the carbon straight into the basket and put the lid on!

What does anyone think?
 
If there isnt any chance of the carbon getting out, I dont see any problem with that. Just be sure to rinse the carbon before adding it.
 
Will do, thanks :) I'll rinse it in old sw.

When I do my PWC, should I worry about things on the liverock (little starfish, crabs, snails etc.) that will be out of the water for a few minutes? Or will they just crawl further down when they sense they're out of the water?
 
The crabs will move on their own..you can move the snails and starfish to a lower spot that wont be exposed. Starfish are extremely sensitive to air.
 
You will want to either remove or replace the carbon. It only works for 1 or 2 weeks and can leech the nasty stuff back into the tank. How much of a PWC are you planning on doing? Generally the critters will move.
 
Well, first official PWC completed! I moved a crab that was right on the top of the rock, the snails luckily were down at the bottom of the tank anyway. The starfish are the VERY tiny ones that come on LR, and are almost impossible to see anyway, so I just tried to be as quick as I could.

I always panic and rush during waterchanges! How long can I generally take with part of the liverock etc. out of the water, while I tend to the tank? Are we talking 5 mins max, or will say 20 minutes be ok?

I changed 25% by the way, every 2 weeks :)
 
When they ship LR it has nothing but wet newspaper on it for 24-48 hrs. You`ll be plenty fine for 20 minutes.
 
To put your mind at ease, think of the ocean and the tides/waves. The rock and some animals are subjected to the air with no problems. There are some critters that should not be exposed to air. When I acclimate my snails, they tend to crawl up the side of the bucket, out of the water. My urchin hangs at the top, a little out of the water, when he finds something tasty at the top....
 
Good point! I have noticed my snails often slightly out of the water at the top, as well as some of the tiny critters (little snails/starfish etc.) that make their way up the glass.

I'll stop worrying so much then :p Was mainly worried about the bacteria on the LR dying off or something really...

What about corals etc. that may be exposed to the air for a bit while I'm doing PWC's/maintenence, are they also ok for a while?
 
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