Aquacity™ Activated Charcoal Carbon Pellets in Free Mesh Media Bags for Aquarium Fish Pond Tank Canister Filter (6-Pack (6 lbs))

These are being successfully used in a serious air-quality emergency with dangerously high levels of VOCs (let me be clear: we are talking about emergency room visits, people having to move out or wear P100 respiration masks 24/7. The carbon is adsorbing the problematic VOCs well. It will do that for a wide range of them (not all). Now that the source was found and encapsulated, the carbon can "catch up" and we are getting quick improvement in our indoor air quality. If you are interested and want details and hints on how to do this, read on! First: prepare the carbon. As others wrote, it will arrive with fine particulates. Yes, other manufacturers may rinse more, and you are charged for that service. The fines can be useful, for example, as additional odor control for potted plants or gardens. There are other uses; here I'll stick to making an air filter! To remove the fines, wear a respirator or a mask, use water, and one more thing... Some reviewers complain about their difficulty in rinsing. That is because the carbon starts out hydrophobic. Make it hydrophilic, and it will suspend into the water for easier clean-up. TiO2 is a common paint or cement additive, as well as a food additive. You may have some of that. Toss in a touch, swirl it up and you'll be in good shape. There are some other methods, and it depends what you have, so for this part an internet search may help you to identify a method. I used two buckets, transferred the carbon back and forth for four rinses, and then it was coming clean. (Handle gently, or they never will rinse clear as you'll be the one breaking them down). Next, dry them. If your climate allows, the sun works great. Otherwise a low oven will work. For your filter, you'll need: 1) a fan with power to pull or push air through. Used/dirty fans, clean up as best you can and have it push air through, so the air is cleaned after the fan. If your fan is new, then it may pull and have clean air running through to keep it that way. My choice: 4 new box fans. 2) a filter, preferably HEPA or other filter that can remove fine particulates. Without it, your carbon will get clogged up too quick and you'll have to wash it all over again. My choices: 3 HEPA filters+prefilters lashed to the box fans with twine, and a washable filter for the 4th fan, purchased here: New Fan Buddy Ultra Flow Box Fan Electrostatic Dust air Filter - Made for 20.5" x 20.5" Box Fan Frame FILTER ONLY, Fan Not Included These two arrangements have been working equally well. 3) A large container, with plentiful holes for good air flow. Metal is strongly recommended, unless you plan to only use this as a "one off" and trash it. Then you could get plastic containers with lots of holes from a dollar store. Another option if you are using a box fan is to construct a large "sleeve" for the carbon that matches the shape of the fan. If the air can escape around the charcoal rather than push through, then it will. I add lighting and more advanced reduction methods and benefit from a round container, so I am using this: Rolodex Mesh Round Wastebasket, 11-1/2 Diameter x 14-1/4 H, Black (22351) 4) A smaller container, that fits inside the larger container, also allowing for great air flow. I am forming these from copper mesh "window screen:" M-D Hobby & Craft Copper Mesh Sheet Rolled, 12 x 24-Inch You may use something else. There can be a benefit to using copper as it may build a relationship with your carbon and eliminate some VOCs better. It can be hard to know what you have, though! Aluminum window screening may be used. An advantage to window screen is that you can fashion it so that it has enough diameter and length at the top to fold over the gap from the outer container, and trap the activated charcoal between them. 5) The prepared carbon (at least rinsed well and dried. If you are going to load it, now is the time. This is referring to things that someone with a chemistry background might add to the carbon to target specific VOCs. Only those with the right background can do this, so if you know the source of the problem and therefore what VOCs are most likely, then you could ask someone for help. If you do not know any of this yet, then it would be hard for someone to help as they wouldn't know what to target. Specific symptoms sometimes help with this, too). 6) Lay down a plastic bag or tarp, or assemble outside. The outer container and inner container will sandwich the carbon. If you are using screen, then heavy-gauge wire is helpful to form the shape, with heavy gloves and trimmers. Make it work! The thicker the carbon is, the more filtration you will obtain. Your fan must be able to handle it, so you may need to experiment. Keep the carbon from falling out of the top: aluminum foil is helpful, if you need it. Once assembled, you can still expect some carbon dust to escape, as it will be created when you move this and cause friction among the pieces. Put something underneath it, and keep your fan at an appropriate speed. This isn't for everyone: $650 will get you the carbon in a nice, clean housing, with wheels! 7) If you are using PCO or APCO, then use what you need to secure your lighting in the center. Make sure your switch is outside of this, especially if you are using UV, and an "easy off again" method will be appreciated later when it is time to re-activate. If I have lost you here, then that is OK, this is optional. Skip this step. 8) Connect your fan to the activated carbon filter, however you wish. I use a plastic bag, secured around the fan at the top end, slit open at the bottom and secured around the carbon filter. This doesn't look pretty, but it is effective, cheap, easy, fast, and temporary, and so it suits my needs perfectly. 9) You are ready! Turn on the fan, check that the air flow is working, and that the fan is not working too hard. Again, don't blast it! :) Give the harmful gasses time to lose themselves in your carbon. Let it be. 10) Your carbon will work for anywhere from 2 hours to 5 years, depending on the amount of VOCs to the amount of carbon. T."he heavier the contamination, the quicker the carbon will be "spent." The carbon can be recharged with heat. Industries use a LOT of heat. I can't, so I remove the basket from the rest, and this is when having everything made out of metal is great: I steam the heck out of the carbon, outside, or well hooded and vented to outside. Your steam has to be really rolling to vent to outside, before introducing the carbon. Otherwise your contaminants may coalesce inside the vent, before getting out. This will release a STINK. Wear a P100 respirator- these are the VOCs that, so far you have spared your lungs and organs from filtering, as you had the carbon do that. It will be undone if you breathe it, now! The more carbon and contamination you have, the longer you have to steam. It will stop stinking when you are done; I do not use that, as I do not want to breathe this or sniff it. Instead, I use tongs to pass a piece of aluminum foil in the path of the steam above, when it is time to check. Heavy VOCs become visible, discoloring the foil. Clean steam does not do that. (If you left your carbon dirty, then you'll have issues all along). When it is done, then I dry it in my oven. You do NOT want to do this until you are certain that your carbon has released the pollutants. Otherwise, you are just re-introducing them to your home, and around and around you would go! Activated carbon can trap down to 0.01 micrometers. It will do a range of sizes, which is fortunate! This is an additional caution: these submicron-sized particles can get deep into your lungs and cause health problems. That's why we need them OUT of our homes and why we do something like this. Protect your breathing! After the carbon is dry, and the metal has cooled, you can re-assemble your fan to it, and keep filtering. Nice, eh? Your carbon does not get used up, it forms rather weak bonds with the VOCs, and now you know how to release them. Again, only do this if you are able to, safely. I hope that this was helpful to you! Enjoy clean air!

I've not tried these before. Our 20 year old pond filter came with a pre-cut circular filter with carbon in it. These bags are easy to use, have a zipper so I can refill them with carbon when needed. My pond became cleaner and clearer after I started using this. I put one bag on top of my filter where the water pours on it.

I like the bags, weather the charcoal works or not the bags are great.

Works great and a good value. Have been using for several years on several large aquariums. At times I remove from provided mesh bags to fill up my own reusable bags of different sizes and even a jug for airtight storage until needed. Helps keep water quality in check for your aquatic friends. :-)

Just two bags (one at a time in the skimmer) sucked the skank (the water literally smelled nasty) and the chlorine (mine was 15+ at the time) out of my pool. Drop one in the skimmer and let it work for a few days. Previous owner managed to break everything, including the water. Go figure.

This seems to be activated charcoal dust . The dust has been packed into small plastic tubes . In order to get the activated charcoal to work well, you need to soak it . I usually soak it for at least 15 minutes if not an hour. Once prepped properly , it seems to work well . But it does generate a lot of loose charcoal powder at the beginning during the soak. But the real test of activated charcoal is , how long will it work ? I'm using it in a fairly lightweight application, so it's pretty hard for me to tell. Hopefully they packed this powder in really tightly and it won't make a difference . However if you plan to try it, especially for demanding applications like filtration for aquariums, I would be careful and watch how long it's been in the system.

Economical bulk carbon that's effective for long term filtration, keeping your fish healthy and vital. I keep goldfish, they're quite dirty compared to any other hobby fish. They require large quantities and frequent changes of activated carbon to keep the ammonia acidity out of the water.

all my fish die after I put it in my filter. I had them for years