Adding extra charcoal to Penguin 200?

[JPA]

I am about to add a piece of mopani driftwood into my tank, and although I have boiled/soaked it, I am expecting to have a lot of tannins to remove.

I also know that activated charcoal will remove them. However, it is far too expensive for me to be adding entirely new filters cartidges to the filter.

Is it possible to buy a jar of loose activated charcoal and somehow introduce it to the penguin 200 filter? If so, how would I go about doing that?

Thanks!!!

 

[Blueiz]

Yes, and IMO, this is the best way to do it if you are needing to use charcoal because its less expensive. You can get a media bag from your lfs, or you can use new rinsed panty house, actually knee highs work best.

This does not have to be in your filter, you can hang it in your tank somewhere around the filter so the water can flow around. To put it in your filter, just put the charcoal in the bag or hose and put either behind the cartridge in the filter (thats where I put mine when I use it), or in front of it (more dangerous and risk water flowing where it shouldn't from the filter).

 

[BigJim]

As Blueiz suggested, media bags work.

Marineland also makes media baskets for any of its filters that use the Rite-Size C cartridges. They're very easy to use to make your own filter cartridges when you're done with the carbon. Just cut some foam into strips or stuff filter floss into the baskets. They're a heck of a lot cheaper than the store cartridges.