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What is the carbon do in the filter2007-11-24 23:41:42

What is the carbon do in the filter? Does it make the water crystal clear or it has other function?

Answers:

It absorbs the impurities in the water . which in turn help to keep the water crystal clear

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Carbon or in your case activated carbon are used extensively by the aquarist because it can removed impurities and suspended particles from the water thus making the water crystal clear. Since activated carbon had tiny microscopic holes in it structure, it can acted like a filter.

There is a draw back in using activated carbon. It not only remove impurities but also essential nutrient (macro and micro) needed by aquatic plants to grow. Because of this, any aquarist who is doing planted aquarium will refrained from using it.

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it helps filter out the harsh water chemicals like chlorine

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its just used to help u clean the the water basically and make sure to change it every so often after y clean teh tank it can be bad for the fish

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In general, water clarity is achieved by the mechanical filtration, such as a sand filter or the polyester "filter wool" Activated carbon works by "adsorption" rather than absorption. In adsorption, oppositely charged particles are attracted by the charge of the activated carbon (the "charge" is why the carbon is called "activated"). Since the particle captured this way is stuck to the surface (adhered), rather than absorbed, the amount of surface area matters. This is why very porous, very light carbon is better (and more expensive). One of the primary toxic organics in your aquarium is Ammonia (NH4+). Activated carbon binds the Ammonia. Ammonia can be toxic to aquarium animals in surprisingly small amounts -- as little as 3 -4 parts per million! 10 ppm will wipeout just about any aquarium fish. Ammonia is a primary product of fish waste - urea. Fortunately, there are some friendly bacteria that can also help to break down ammonia -- nitrosomanas. The use the ammonia as a food source, and produce nitrites. Bad news -- nitrites are pretty toxic, too. But carbon binds it! Also, the nitrosomanas have some friends -- nitrobacter. These bacteria use the nitrites as a food source, and produce nitrates. While nitrates aren't great for your fish either, they aren't nearly as toxic. Even 40 - 50 times the concentration of nitrates isn't as bad as the original ammonia. Oh -- carbon will help bind this, too! Also, if you have live plants (healthy ones -- not dying ones!) they will use the nitrates as fertilizer (check your plant food bottle for your houseplants -- contents: nitrates!).

You may have seen undergravel filters? These look like a screen or plate with holes that sits under the gravel, and uses an air-lift or pump to pull water through the gravel (with our without carbon chambers to augment them). How do these work? The sand/gravel traps particles (making your water clear). And a supply of fresh, oxygenated water (nitrosomanas and nitrobacter are "aerobic" -- oxygen-loving bacteria) moving over all that gravel (lots of surface area for friendly bacteria to live on) makes for abundant, healthy bacteria colonies.