How do I clean fluval activated carbon for Fluval C4 filter?
I just bought the fluval C4 today and I've been washing the damn activated carbon for like 1.5 hours. The water is still black. Does the water have to be clear to be safe to put into the filter?
Activated carbon is very soft because it has been turned into a brittle sponge (activation) to radically increase its surface area and filtering ability.
If you wash it you will break it apart and keep getting black particles until you have completely washed it away.
You can put it in the filter without any rinsing at all and be safe. One gentle rinse is enough to remove fine particles that formed during transport. That black dust is harmless and I've never yet seen it end up visibly deposited in the aquarium. If a puff of it goes in the tank, it keeps circulating until it's recaptured by the filter.
Carbon is useful in clearing water of tank medications and their break-down components, and absorbs odors and yellow colors from leaching driftwood and the metabolism of plant and fish life in the tank. In addition it absorbs any chlorine and chloramine that gets into your tank past the water conditioners, and absorbs metals such as copper. Once it absorbs all the contaminants it has room for on its surface, it supplies sites for biological filtration, AKA the nitrification cycle. When you detect yellow tint to your water, it is time to replace the carbon.
I use activated carbon a lot on planted tanks since the yellow tint blocks the light I am paying good money to try and get to the plants in my tanks. My favorite brand includes some filtration resins that add more abilities to absorb unwanted chemicals. It is Boyd's Chemi-Pure which works really well and comes in a pre-dampened filter bag so there is very little handling. A quick rinse of the outside of the bag is the most I do. It is also good on African cichlid tanks since I would rather see the colors the fish are supposed to have rather than seeing them through a yellow haze.
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