Activated Carbon

[KidFish]

Hi all, I just started up a dirted tank, I also put some wood in my tank as well. It's 125gallon.... Confession time.... I dont know how to use activated carbon/charcoal... my water looks stained with the colors of the dirt and wood:/ hating it soooooo much.. I heard activated carbon can take the stains out of water? So yeah, if anyone has any advice or tips? I have the wet dry DIY filter, with the drawer system you know?

 

[Mifsud]

Activated charcoal can be used to remove all ultrafine particles from your aquarium. It sounds like you have some particles that fall into this category and some that do not.

Activated charcoal is most effective with a small flow rate through the filter. You could place a media bag filled with activated charcoal into your drawer before the unfiltered water reaches your bio-media and after it passes through your filter sponge.

 

[mfdrookie516]

What kind of dirt? I once had a couple tanks with miracle gro dirt and it took a month or more to stop leeching ammonia, and the water stained back pretty quickly after a water change. If it's anything like that, you'll just have to put up with the discoloration until it stops. Mine didn't stop until the 6 month mark or so, and then if I did any rescape at all, it went right back. Definitely appreciated the floramax once I switched over.

 

[Mebbid]

Run purigen in your tank instead of carbon. It lasts a lot longer and can be recharged rather than replaced.

 

[KidFish]

How much should i get? What will it make clearer? Will more plants help?