Deactivated carbon to cycle new tank?

[arloa]

About to indulge in another tank as a late christmas present for myself and I was wondering if I could use deactivated carbon from my established tank as a way to kick start the new tank? The carbon isn't deactivated yet, but it has been in the tank for 3-4 weeks and I was about to change it for another activated carbon soon anyways.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Yes you can use it to seed the new tank. It will house some BB.

 

[jlk]

Carbon really isnt necessary in an aquarium in general unless you are trying to remove meds. Are you throwing away your carbon filters every few weeks? By doing this, you are throwing away all of your beneficial bacteria that has grown on your filter & probably risking a mini-cycle. Yes, you can use the old filter from your tank to help seed the new tank but you should also consider switching to a more permanent type of filter media (sponges, foam, polyfill) rather than wasting money on carbon replacements every few weeks & disposing of your good bacteria. Hope this helps!

 

[arloa]

Oh thanks guys . and @jlk yeah i've heard of carbon not being entirely necessary, especially since i'm not removing any medicines of any sorts. I currently have a sponge, carbon and bio-max as filter media and I have been reading up on using purigen over carbon. however, the idea of recharging it using bleach isnt something I like since bleach may leak into my tank if i'm not careful. are there any other kinds of filter media i can replace carbon with? would it be okay to just invest in another sponge?

 

[severum mama]

Carbon really isnt necessary in an aquarium in general unless you are trying to remove meds. Are you throwing away your carbon filters every few weeks? By doing this, you are throwing away all of your beneficial bacteria that has grown on your filter & probably risking a mini-cycle. Yes, you can use the old filter from your tank to help seed the new tank but you should also consider switching to a more permanent type of filter media (sponges, foam, polyfill) rather than wasting money on carbon replacements every few weeks & disposing of your good bacteria. Hope this helps!

Agree that carbon isn't necessary, but it sounds like the OP has an Aqua Clear filter where the carbon is a separate insert from sponge and ceramic media.

@ the OP- Yes, you can use your carbon insert to seed your new tank. I run my Aqua Clears with 2 sponges stacked on top of one another, and the Bio Max insert on top.

 

[jlk]

Oh thanks guys . and @jlk yeah i've heard of carbon not being entirely necessary, especially since i'm not removing any medicines of any sorts. I currently have a sponge, carbon and bio-max as filter media and I have been reading up on using purigen over carbon. however, the idea of recharging it using bleach isnt something I like since bleach may leak into my tank if i'm not careful. are there any other kinds of filter media i can replace carbon with? would it be okay to just invest in another sponge?

I dont know anything about purigen & the thought of having anything 'charged' with bleach in my tank is a scary one! I personally like the sponges & have them all over the place instead of carbon. They are inexpensive & hold up pretty well!