Carbon in a filter.

[Sam Chicklets]

Somewhere I have read that charcoal will remove tannins from water. So I thought I would give it a try. I have a 50 gallon with a huge piece of bog wood that I did not take to the carwash like I normaly do. So even after a 50% water change it looks like strong tea within 2 days. I filled the media canister on a magnum hot filter with activated charcoal yesterday, and today the water is crystal clear.

[Vallisneria]

But wouldnt' you have to replace the carbon quite regularly as the wood is going to keep putting out tannins and carbon can only absorb so much before needing to be replaced.

[jvision]

GAC either needs to be recharged or replaced fairly regularly; otherwise, it'll start leaching back into the water.

[Frank]

But still that is good to know..Carbon is cheap.

Jason: GAC either needs to be recharged or replaced fairly regularly.?

So how do you recharge it.

otherwise, it'll start leaching back into the water?

What does it leach back??.

Just things I need to know.

Has this happened to you or is this just things you have read on here.??

[Sam Chicklets]

I know the carbon will saturate with the tannins, but I thought I would experiment with it to see if it works.

[Frank]

I know the carbon will saturate with the tannins, but I thought I would experiment with it to see if it works.

But if carbons clear's up the tank faster than doing 200 water changes , than that would be a good thing.

You may be on to something here.

[jvision]

But still that is good to know..Carbon is cheap.

Jason: GAC either needs to be recharged or replaced fairly regularly.?

So how do you recharge it.

otherwise, it'll start leaching back into the water?

What does it leach back??.

Just things I need to know.

Has this happened to you or is this just things you have read on here.??

Carbon will leach back what it absorbed... or worse! Sometimes it'll leach back some weird carbon compounds that are not good (remember all the CFCs that used to be released by fridges?).

I read that you can recharge carbon with a strong saline sol'n. I tried it a few times way back when... not sure if it really did anything.

If I were to use it, I'd find a really cheap/bulk source, and just replace it every 2 weeks to month. They use it for the Sea Lion tank at WEM, and just dispose of it every time they clean the filters.

Edited February 29, 2008 by jvision

[Qattarra]

I was told years ago , that you could boil the charcoal in a strong salt solution . I've tried this and the salt water gets pretty icky. As to if it then is capable of absorbing things in the water once again, well I've never "tested".

[Sam Chicklets]

This is just an experiment and I will be discontinuing it in the near future. I just thought it would be interesting to try. I have used it in the past for other things and just dispose of it when I'm done. As for recharging, I have had success with amrid and saltwater. But I have never heard of recharging charcoal.

[Vallisneria]

let us know how long the carbon lasts before the tank starts getting tannin filled again.

[skinless]

good to keep carbon on hand for emergency situations.