# Active Corbon in used Gravel?



## LS70 (Jun 3, 2006)

Hi, im changing the gravel in my 38g, its still not setup, no fish or water yet 

but i keep finding little black cylindrical pieces in it. They are brittle as well. 

the gravel was previously used, purchased at a LFS, $5 for a 50Ib BAG!!! nice and cheap they had maybe 20-30 bags! So imagine the size of the tank!

The gravel is black, so its hard to pick these things out, and im pretty sure its carbon, I cant clean this stuff out! Water just runs black, 

Should I pick them out or leave them?

here are the little bits a picked out, is this or was this infact active carbon?


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

What is the gravel made of? Its normally not a good idea to use used substrate unless you know exactly what it is. Especially from a lfs.


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

O man i so wouldnt have bought that from LFS, if its running straight black something is wrong with it. Thats asking for problems in a tank, id say spent $5 go to home depot get bag of sand wash it outside in a bucket by just running a hose in it and it will look all natural and pretty.


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## LS70 (Jun 3, 2006)

i have light colored river gravel right now, and i dont like it, 

this one is just all black gravel 

it does get more clear as i rinse, but i think it runs black cause the previous owner mixed it with active carbon which seems to be brittle and leaves a black powder residue, 

the gravel itself doesn't leave anything behind, 

here are the little bits a picked out, is this or was this infact active carbon? 


here is the gravel itself



i know its not safe to buy used gravel, but i am gonna rinse the crap out of it, 

i even found 2-3 large fish scales the size of my harly's,

ps, the LFS was actually big als.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Carbon tend to be lighter, Can you Gravel wash it out? Its non-toxic, but will be forever getting powdered and blackening your tank if you leave it in.


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## LS70 (Jun 3, 2006)

thats what i figured, it does leave a black powder but i can wash out alot of it. 

i picked out the larger pieces, but its hard to when the gravel is black as well, 

but are those bits in the picture actually active gravel?


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