Activated charcoal issue

[screaminleeman]

Hi,

I have a small dilema with a fish tank and wanted to get suggestions on how to fix the issue.

I had a activated charcoal bag from an AC-110 burst and it dispersed the active charcoal all over the bottom of my tank on top of the fine sand subtrate a few weeks ago.

I understand that this should not cause any health issues in the tank, but the "black" coal splattered on the lime green and raven purple sand subtrate looks UGLY! The coal is heavier than the sand subtrate, so I have not been able to vacum it out.

Again, obviously it is not a pressing issue since the health of the tank is not at risk, but I can not see anything short of completely breaking down the tank and starting over from scratch in a new cycle. IMO the asthetic lift to the visual of the tank would NOT be worth the effort of rehoming the fish and starting over from scratch cycling the tank.

This is where the expertese her on MFK can hopefully provide a solution that I have not thought of. Thanks!

 

[philfreenode]

don't know if this will work but.. got any net that sand can go through and charcoal can't ? if the sand is really fine.. .

 

[screaminleeman]

don't know if this will work but.. got any net that sand can go through and charcoal can't ? if the sand is really fine.. .

I used a small kitchen strainer that was able to do that. Part of the problem is that I can't come close to reaching the bottom while the tank is filled. I had to do the 50% wc and attempt the straining at the lower water level. I estimate that I worked roughly a half an hour at it and was only able to get a small percentage of it.

 

[Prometheus]

ummm. i dont know but maybe, just maybe if your lucky, the charcoal will actually be slightly magnetic and you can comb it out using a bar magnet. I highly recommend putting the bar magnet in a ziplock baggie or something else like that in order to keep trace amounts of the metal that it is made of from coming off in your tank since it might be harmful (like how copper is harmful to shrimp for example). if that doesnt work maybe you can research magnetism a little bit and see if there is a fish safe way you can make the charcoal become magnetic? maybe? idk if it works that way, it sounds possible. good luck with that. you can always siphon sand out pretty easily, once its out and away for the fish and rest of the tank maybe you can find a reasonable way to clean it.

 

[Dr_Shakalu]

Unfortunately, I think the only way to get the carbon out is to replace all of the gravel. Trying to get all of the carbon out is like finding needles in a haystack, The Doctor