carbon takes out ferts?

[Sparky74]

I have peat granules in one tray to help soften my water a bit and lower ph.

 

[ldaniel]

I read an article last night the stated after activated carbon has expired, it is then able to be used for beneficial bacteria. does anyone believe that?

 

[Fdsh5]

Also though, after it expires it releases what it was holding onto. So all the contaminants it contained are released

 

[jcolon]

so what does carbon in a filter do exactly? what does it filter?

See the link below... I think it will help.
Activated Carbon In Aquarium | Aquariums Life

EDIT ... OOPS meant to direct this link to Fdsh5

 

[jetajockey]

Also though, after it expires it releases what it was holding onto. So all the contaminants it contained are released

I've heard conflicting info on that idea, do you have any documentation?

Also re: beneficial bacteria. It does serve as a good form of biomedia since it's very porous.

 

[jcolon]

Also though, after it expires it releases what it was holding onto. So all the contaminants it contained are released

Check the link on my previous post .. from what I've read, it can release the contaminants if you have a drastic pH swing. I'd guess that any such pH swing would be enough to kill your fish before the contaminants do ...

 

[eco23]

Just to add my 2 cents / hypothesis / educated guess into the carbon leeching conversation in case it helps with further research...my understanding is that there are different forms of carbon that work in different manners. I'm in commercial / residential water purification as a profession, and I know water systems use different kinds. For example, things like Brita Pitcher, refrigerator filters, use normal activated carbon which works through absorption. As we know, they basically become inert and lose their absorption abilities which in an aquarium I'd believe, as jeta said, that it would simply become part of the bio-filtration and I guess also a form of mechanical filter. However, in some of high-end ($) units, we have other forms of carbon which work through different properties where materials basically cling to it, the material can be flushed, recharged and reused (our company has lifetime warranties on it, but we normally replace it after 5-10 years based on the water quality it is treating). I've never researched it deeply, but I could take an educated guess and make an assumption that once the specialized forms of carbon lose it's ability to "cling" to things, if not cleaned and recharged I suppose there would be the potential for it to basically lose it's grasp on the things it's holding. However, I highly doubt aquarium filters are using anything remotely similar to what are in out top-tier systems (again, lots of $), and they're probably much more similar to the Pur filter people have on their faucets.

Again, just a theory...not scientific data.

 

[Fdsh5]

I have heard both arguments and currently I only use polyfill. Interesting article though. I use excel products and it will absorbs some of the elements in the ferts.