Re-using Filter Media?

Question

I had just put in new carbon in my filter about 2 weeks ago. My fish are flashing and I have had parasites before so I decided to treat them with Aquarisol to be on the safe side. My question is.......if I rinsed my filter carbon real well and allowed it to completely dry, will it be ok to put BACK in my filter when it's time to put the carbon back after treatment?

Please, I'm not looking for people to say "I don't know" just to get points, I'm looking for a real answer or opinion to this question.

This forum is getting too out of control with stupid responses to honest questions and trolls who run around thumbs downing people for no good reason. I hope the people who run this forum start cracking down on the people who cheat. I apologize, I just had to get that out. I do not participate here too much but I do see what is going on.

Anyway, thanks in advance to anyone who has a good answer for me about this.

Yes, I know all about removing the charcoal, etc., I just was never in the position to think of re-using the media. I guess could soak it overnight, sure wouldn't hurt I suppose. Thanks for your opinion, it went along with mine. I'll just wait to see if anyone else has any "cons" to doing this.

Ok ok, lol, I'm not that cheap that I can't go get more.....it just wasn't that old so I was more curious then anything!! I thought that drying it out might kill anything in it, really didn't give it a thought about the "effectiveness" factor.

Thanks to everyone who answered, I appreciate the time you took.

Happy Holidays everyone, no matter what you celebrate.

Answer 1

Did you take the carbon out before applying the Aquarisol? You should always remove the filter before treating your fish to get the full effect of the medication. If you did, then I would say go ahead and use it, no problem.

Even if you didn't, an extra good rinsing of the media..maybe even a good overnight soak and it shouldn't hurt to reuse.

Answer 2

It's possible that the carbon would still be effective, but the drying out process may have rendered it ineffective. This is because charcoal works because it "adsorbs" not absorbs impurities from the water and it relies on small pores in the surface to collect and hold those impurities. No charcoal will remain effective more than thirty days and should be changed that regularly. Overloaded charcoal will release some of the impurities back into the water when it becomes saturated, most importantly phosphates which become algae nutrients.
So the answer to you question is just go ahead and pony up for some fresh charcoal,it's not worth the risk.
I agree about the thumbs down,but there really isn't any other way to answer a patently stupid answer or a half correct answer that starts out with a grain of truth and ends up in complete fallacy.

Answer 3

If there is a disease or parasite in your aquarium you don't want to risk anything by placing anything back in the aquarium that has not been sterilized. If you really want to reuse the carbon you could heat it in the over covered in tin foil for a long time to make sure everything in the carbon would be killed though I don't thing this is worth the time or cost. You are better off just throwing this out and getting new carbon. Most of the chemical filtration achieved with carbon occurs during the 1-2 weeks then the pores fill up and really become additional biological filtration which is alright though not the real purpose of carbon and there are better ways to achieve biological filtration. Follow proper water changes and maintenance and you rarely need carbon filtration. If there is an unexpected death in the aquarium or after medicating the aquarium do a large water change and add carbon for a couple of weeks though this is the only time carbon really serves any purpose.

Answer 4

If you had the carbon in the filter while you were treating the tank with meds its not good and you cant use it again.

Carbon has a short life time anyway like 3 to 4 weeks then you need to replace it.
You can clean the carbon and use it again but theres a few things you have to do to it and since carbon is so cheap I just buy new .
Buy new your better off .

Answer 5

if you must wash it (which i REALLY wouldn't do) wash it in RO/DI water not tap. running charcoal under tap water is like buying used party snaps. whats the point, all the impurities and minerals and such in the tap water just get trapped by and use up the charcoal.
just removing the charcoal and allowing to dry willsuffice.