Removing carbon filter during medication?

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LudicrouSpeed

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 12, 2014
Messages
43
Location
Northern Virginia
The instructions for the medication I'm giving my fish says I should remove the activated carbon filter while doing the treatment. My research shows me that the carbon filter would remove the medication from the water. So in the meantime, should I save my old filter?

I was under the impression that the filter (in my case, a bio bag with activated carbon) was the richest source of beneficial bacteria in my tank for the nitrogen cycle. By removing and replacing the filter after the treatment is done, won't that cause my tank to cycle again?

It occurred to me I could save the bacteria by keeping the carbon filter in a bucket of tank water, but supposedly the bacteria will die without ammonia anyway. Doesn anyone know if that's true?

Thanks.
 
While treating with meds you must remove carbon. As for the bacteria in your filter the foam will have more bb than the carbon so I wouldn't worry. Most people on this site do not use carbon in their filters unless they are removing meds. I would just dose the meds following the directions and once the dosing is over add new carbon for a week or so then remove it and add more foam. What are you using the meds for?
 
I think it's Hole-in-Head. Not sure. My yellow male balloon Molly is acting very sick... getting thin, losing color, sitting on the bottom alot. I think there's discoloration on his head, but I can't really trust my ability to diagnose.

So with the filter, should I pack the new carbon in the old bag when I switch it out? I've got it sitting in a small bucket of aquarium water with a snippet of elodea and some fish food. I figured, if these contribute to ammonia in the tank, maybe the can keep the BB alive in the bucket.
 
Chemical Medium

The instructions for the medication I'm giving my fish says I should remove the activated carbon filter while doing the treatment. My research shows me that the carbon filter would remove the medication from the water. So in the meantime, should I save my old filter?

I was under the impression that the filter (in my case, a bio bag with activated carbon) was the richest source of beneficial bacteria in my tank for the nitrogen cycle. By removing and replacing the filter after the treatment is done, won't that cause my tank to cycle again?

It occurred to me I could save the bacteria by keeping the carbon filter in a bucket of tank water, but supposedly the bacteria will die without ammonia anyway. Doesn anyone know if that's true?

Thanks.

Hello Ludi...

Chemical medium (carbon) isn't needed if you're used to doing large, frequent water changes. The water changes do much more for the tank water than carbon. The bag of carbon will help remove odors, but for only a very short time, then it will be a home for the good bacteria. But, so is everything else with a surface inside the tank. Decorations, plants, driftwood, the biological medium all are home to good bacteria. You can remove the carbon and still have plenty of good bacteria in the tank. Bacteria will reproduce in a short time to replace what's lost when the carbon is removed. There's no need to keep the bacteria on the carbon alive. When you're through with the meds, just remove and replace half the tank water every week for tanks 30 gallons and smaller and the larger tanks can generally go two weeks between 50 percent water changes.

B
 
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