Keeping an aquarium requires regular upkeep, especially if you want it to last a long time. These fish homes need a lot of care and maintenance to keep your fish happy and to prevent you from having to fork out more cash to buy another one.
Once you begin looking into the different filtration options available for aquariums, one of the most common next questions is if an aquarium filter needs carbon.
In short, you do not NEED carbon in your aquarium filter, however, it is highly recommended because it provides many beneficial effects to the tank water.
After all, the water in a fish tank should be suitable for a fish to live in. However, there are a few factors you need to understand when it comes to using carbon in an aquarium filter and how it works.
Activated carbon is charcoal with many pores that has been specially treated. These tiny pores can lock in large amounts of waste products from the air and water which is why activated carbon is used for chemical filtration.
These pores can filter chlorine, phenols, certain medicines from the water, and tannins which are known to discolor the water. Therefore, activated carbon is used in aquarium tanks to keep the water clear.
Nonetheless, activated carbon can not eliminate all the different forms of pollutants from the aquarium’s water. It is unable to remove ammonia, nitrates, or nitrite. Generally speaking, activated carbon finds nitrogen elements are immune to its effects. Therefore, using it in an aquarium with ammonia probably wouldn’t work.
You would need to use a water conditioner before using activated carbon but once fully used up, it is not possible to recycle any activated carbon. This is because it requires heat therapy which can’t be found in a normal environment.
For aquarium filters, Granular Activated Carbon which is made up of Bituminous coal is the best option. While it’s true that activated carbons are great at cleaning the air and water surroundings of a fish aquarium, the Bituminous GAC (granular activated carbon) is designed especially to remove a range of toxins from the water. The porous surface of the water in these tanks can absorb the toxins resulting in an effortless cleanse of the water and any odor that may have been attached.