Does activated carbon remove IRON EDTA ???

Yes, activated carbon will adsorb EDTA to some degree, until its adsorption capacity is exhausted.

How much EDTA iron are you adding to your aquarium? You should not see a visibly brown solution.

Darkblade48 said:

Yes, activated carbon will adsorb EDTA to some degree, until its adsorption capacity is exhausted.

How much EDTA iron are you adding to your aquarium? You should not see a visibly brown solution.

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So its a waste to have both activated carbon and iron at the same time?

When you say " until its absorption capacity is exhausted", so it will not be able to absorb the bad things from the water because it was wasted taking iron from the water?

I am only adding a small amount of the EDTA, probably 50% the recommended amount. EDTA has a lot of tint to the water.

So you know if Purigen will absort iron the same way as the activated carbon does?

Thanks.

why do you have activated carbon in your tank?
EDDHA will have brown/yellow tint when added to water, it is very strong chelator, i advise using it. EDTA should not have any color.

I would just get rid of carbon, it's useful to clean tank after medication, but normally it may do more harm than help. Purigen is better for everyday use, it's absorbing ferts much slower and really makes water transparent.

dzega said:

why do you have activated carbon in your tank?
EDDHA will have brown/yellow tint when added to water, it is very strong chelator, i advise using it. EDTA should not have any color.

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Sorry, I mean it was EDDHA that I was adding not EDTA. My mistake. '

The activated carbon is in the filter not the tank. Its added because that it what I have always done to keep the water clean.

Do people not do this anymore?

Thanks.

Carbon is used only to clean your water from chemicals - medication especially. It's really not needed in any other situation.

nel said:

Carbon is used only to clean your water from chemicals - medication especially. It's really not needed in any other situation.

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Laundry room is in the room next door. I'm not sure if chemical will travel into that tank or not. I try to keep the door closed most of the time to prevent any contamination. However perhaps I should switch to Purigen.

nel said:

Carbon is used only to clean your water from chemicals - medication especially. It's really not needed in any other situation.

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I have to disagree. Its invaluable at startup to absorb organics before the biofilter and plants establish themselves. Both ADA, Eheim and many others recommend it for about a month when you start a tank. It's effect on FE is minimal. I use it during all startups and never had a problem.

Darkblade48 said:

Yes, activated carbon will adsorb EDTA to some degree, until its adsorption capacity is exhausted.

How much EDTA iron are you adding to your aquarium? You should not see a visibly brown solution.

Click to expand...

What about EDDHA and activated Carbon? I made a mistake and said EDTA instead of EDDHA.

Does carbon absorb EDDHA too?

Thanks.

SpaceLord said:

So its a waste to have both activated carbon and iron at the same time?

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Yes

SpaceLord said:

When you say " until its absorption capacity is exhausted", so it will not be able to absorb the bad things from the water because it was wasted taking iron from the water?

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Correct. Of course, there will be some removal of unwanted organics as well, at least until the carbon is exhausted.

Also note that activated charcoal works via adsorption, not absorption. These are two distinct processes.

SpaceLord said:

So you know if Purigen will absort iron the same way as the activated carbon does?

Thanks.

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I do not believe it is advertised as such.

SpaceLord said:

What about EDDHA and activated Carbon? I made a mistake and said EDTA instead of EDDHA.

Does carbon absorb EDDHA too?

Thanks.

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Yes. Activated charcoal will adsorb organic molecules from the water column.

Activated carbon is not a single product. It can be manufactured so it adsorbs different ranges of molecules. I suspect the activated carbon made for aquariums is the cheapest that can still be called activated carbon, and is highly unlikely to adsorb any of our fertilizers, and may not even adsorb the chelators.

I haven't used any for at least 10 years, probably longer. Its very limited effective life suggests that it has little, if any value for aquarium use, other than for specific, short time problems, like medications. The reason it is recommended by the aquarium products industry should be obvious.