Activated Carbon Instructions

Use one tablespoon of carbon per ten gallons of water. Use carbon for a few days at a time and then remove. Use monthly or when water starts to yellow. Use immediately if contaminating toxins are suspected or if you suspect there is something wrong in the aquaria.  

For use in a reactor or canister filter. (Preferred Method)

1. Rinse. Place the carbon in the reactor and return to the tank. Remove the return line on the reactor from the sump or tank and place in a waste bucket. Turn on the reactor to rinse the material. Once the water runs clear place the return line back in the tank.
2. Adjust flow rate. If the equipment being used allows, reduce the flow rate. Activated carbon works best with lower flow rates.

For use in a filter bag

1. Rinse. Add the correct amount of carbon to a mesh filter bag. Rinse the carbon with RO/DI water or water from the tank to remove the dust created from storage and transport. Avoid grinding the material back and forth as this will cause more dust.
2. Place in tank. Place the mesh filter bag in a high flow area of the tank, such as a sump.

***Carbon can be left in the tank for prolonged periods of time but after a few days it becomes significantly less effective as most of the pores have filled. Carbon is an ideal place for good nitrating bacteria to populate and if left in the tank for prolonged periods of time a good portion of your filtrating bacteria may be populated within the carbon. When the carbon is removed at this point it may take a significant amount of a tanks filtration system with it. If you choose to leave the carbon in the tank for long periods of time only replace half of it at a time to avoid this issue.***