So I bought some carbon

[Melonbob]

A bucket of Black Diamond. My lfs sells me these empty cartridges that slide right into my HOB in a second slot. Nifty, except when I actually placed them in, about two teaspoons worth of carbon flakes found their way through the cracks and into my tank. Are these gonna cause me grief in any way? For the next time I refill, can I slide the whole cartridge into a bag of some sort to catch them, or am I worrying for nothing?

 

[yote]

I dont think the little flakes will do any damage in the tank.But I would try to minimize them as much as possible.
I think you'd be better off putting the carbon in a nylon bag and placing that in your HOB filter though.I doubt the cartridges will hold enough to do you any good for your size tank.

 

[Bifferwine]

Did you rinse the cartridges before putting them in your filter? If you rinse them out it will minimize the carbon getting into your tank.

 

[hotimportknight]

Yeah, make sure you rinse that stuff really well. I use the Black Diamonds in a bag in my sump. I rinsed the crap out of it (it boiled really well when contacting water) and it still turned my sump a little black. That stuff is really prone to turning to dust I think...

 

[yote]

Yeah, make sure you rinse that stuff really well. I use the Black Diamonds in a bag in my sump. I rinsed the crap out of it (it boiled really well when contacting water) and it still turned my sump a little black. That stuff is really prone to turning to dust I think...

Think about what carbon really is.Its basically just charcoal,so its gonna be dusty.

 

[Doc]

yup. you have got to rinse it out really well before adding it to your tank. I would not use the slide in cartridges but rather put the carbon into nylon media bags. that way you get put in more carbon in your tank for better cleaning that will last a longer time. I am not a fan of those whimpy white pads.

-Doc

 

[Melonbob]

I actually like these, there are two slots in each side of my hob. I have a standard cartridge with the blue filter material in the first slot, and in the second one I am running these. These don't have any filter material at all, they are just plastic, and open up to fill with carbon. the only shitty part is the mesh in the plastic is just a little too big and lets the odd piece of carbon out. I think I'm going to find a media bag that will hold the whole cartridge.

 

[Doc]

good choice. they have three sizes at my LFS. go with a medium size. you can use one bag for carbon and the other for a phosphate remover. Sounds like you already are using a sponge-type filter media.

-Doc

 

[Melonbob]

I guess, its just a standard cartridge for the biowheel 350. it has a small amount of carbon in it, and blue filter material on one side

 

[Melonbob]

BTW, carbon rocks! Two days, and my tank looks completely different, just like I wanted it to look! Thanks guys!

 

[fishbait]

just a little tip when rinsing carbon before use. make sure to rinse it out with ro/di and not tap. you don't want to you're carbon to be saturated with phosphates before it ever goes into the tank.