changing carbon from filter

[fishbie]

Hi all
I would like to know some advice from experts about how i could remove carbon from my filter cartridge.. I have a 10 gallon tank with tetra aqua 5-15 power filter and i ve read that replacing filter cartridge every month will only cause my cycle to start all over again.. i dont want that to happen,so can someone pls explain me in detail about how i could remove the carbon alone from my filter..?
As of now,inside my filter,i have a gray bio-filter and a blue sponge-on-a-frame kind filter cartridge put in back to back. I m not sure where the carbon is in the cartridge,i even tried pulling the blue sponge off the frame to look if it is placed in between,but the sponge does not come out,it seems to have been knit tightly and the frame bends if i pull harder i read somewhere that i should cut it to take the carbon out,my question is-how do i exactly cut it so that it can be reused without much damage to the frame? It would be greatly helpful if someone can explain the process step by step..
Thanks in advance!

 

[Uncle Dirty]

Can you post a photo of the cartridge?

 

[fishbie]

Can you post a photo of the cartridge?

Sure i m on it will post pics in a min

 

[fishbie]

These are the snaps of my filter cartridge...

 

[bud29]

I am running an AquaTech 20-40 and this is what I do:

See that seam? With a knife, make a slit to the left of the seam. Make sure that the slit is big enough for one scissor blade to go through. Then, just cut along the perimeter as close to the seam as possible. You will not be able to get all of the pad as is is on the cartridge pretty well. But you can get the majority of it off. There will be some loose carbons on the underside of the pad, so swish the pad around in a bit of tank water before putting it in your filter media slot again.

 

[fishbie]

I am running an AquaTech 20-40 and this is what I do:

See that seam? With a knife, make a slit to the left of the seam. Make sure that the slit is big enough for one scissor blade to go through. Then, just cut along the perimeter as close to the seam as possible. You will not be able to get all of the pad as is is on the cartridge pretty well. But you can get the majority of it off. There will be some loose carbons on the underside of the pad, so swish the pad around in a bit of tank water before putting it in your filter media slot again.

Thanks a ton! Will try that and keep u updated

 

[bud29]

OK great! I was hoping my directions were clear enough, because I was having trouble explaining it.

 

[fishbie]

OK great! I was hoping my directions were clear enough, because I was having trouble explaining it.

R u kiddin me?! U were awesome!! There must be a grading we can give for the replies we get on this site,coz i would rank urs the best
Ok,update-i did what u told,cut along the perimeter of the inside of the seam on the bottom part alone,and what i found was so many carbon cubes pouring out,like the size of my gravel..what i expected was a single sheet of carbon which i could dispose with ease,so i had a pretty tough time all afternoon cleaning it out..as u can see,the back of my cartridge frame had gaps/holes in between through which i had to even slide my knife to get some of the flakes out without tearing the blue sponge on the front!
Well i have 3 questions now,
1)my tank seems a bit cloudy and very dusty since i did a pwc 2 days before. Could that be due to these carbon flakes? coz its been nearly 2 weeks late for my first month filter cartridge change(or carbon removal). So could they have gotten into the water? if so,r they poisonous to my fish?? They seem ok as of now..should i have to do a 50%pwc again??
2) When i was removing the carbon flakes,i did the mistake of showing the back of the cartridge under tap water for a couple of minutes,just to get rid of the residue that were sticking to the frame and then rinsed it again in some tank water i put in a bucket. But now,the blue sponge(that was dirty like in the pic i posted) seems lot cleaner and bluer! Does this mean i lost all the good bacteria already?? i know that the biofilter actually has some bacteria too,but i just wanted to know about this
3)The slit in the sponge that i put...would it affect the working of my filter in anyway??
Thanks in advance again!

 

[tarpon]

The carbon won't hurt the fish. And if it was just briefly, not all of your bacteria should've died, I don't think the chlorine in tap water is that concentrated (don't quote me on that) but you may experience a "mini cycle" but if you keep up on your water changes, and maybe do a couple more a week, you should be fine.
A good test kit is really necessary to determine whether you're experiencing a mini cycle or not

 

[fishbie]

Thanks i m out of test strips as of now,but will get some again soon..thought they wont be necessary after a month I ll keep up with the water changes too..will probably do twice a week for a while..
Thanks again!

 

[tarpon]

Buy a liquid test kit instead of strips! It costs more but it's worth it as it's more accurate and lasts a long time. And trust me, the accuracy is worth it.

 

[blert]

Buy a liquid test kit instead of strips! It costs more but it's worth it as it's more accurate and lasts a long time. And trust me, the accuracy is worth it.

+1
They are actually cheaper in the long run.