who here runs carbonless??

[Tasha]

my last post got me thinking about how many of us even us carbon, unless for removal of medications.

My new filter is a aqua clear 50, for those of you you who dont use carbon, you keep out the bag, but do you put in another sponge to take up its empty space or leave it empty??

 

[carey]

I use the sponge and the bio media that they sell. On occasion i will use the carbon. I'd say 50% of the time for me.

 

[mommytron]

i might shove some filter fiber in there to make up the space. i actually run carbon on my filters pretty much all the time. i've got mopani driftwood in both of my tanks, and the carbon keeps the water crystal clear (as opposed to the color of tea from the DW)

 

[meegosh]

I do not run carbon in any of my filters. I just run the sponge, biomedia and poly fiber.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I don't run carbon either. I run sponges and ceramic rings.

 

[spoonman]

Ceramic rings and foam for me. No carbon.

 

[roydooms]

my last post got me thinking about how many of us even us carbon, unless for removal of medications.

My new filter is a aqua clear 50, for those of you you who dont use carbon, you keep out the bag, but do you put in another sponge to take up its empty space or leave it empty??

I just recently bought an AC50 and I didn't use the carbon that came with it. I bought more biomax to take up the space. I don't use carbon because I have planted tanks and the carbon will absorb most of the fertilizers.

 

[HN1]

Same as the above. We don't use carbon unless for a specific purpose.

 

[Shadowraven]

I prefer to use carbon in my filter to remove fishy odors and any stray contaminants from the water. It really is more a matter of preference from what I've seen. You might sometimes want to run carbon in the filter if you're trying to remove something from the water, like spent medications. But you don't usually NEED to run it most of the time.

 

[HUKIT]

Nine tanks running crystal clear without carbon, I dont even use it to remove meds. Just change water, keep your filters clean, and you'll be fine without it. This hobby is expensive enough with wasting it on crap like that.

 

[mommytron]

I don't use carbon because I have planted tanks and the carbon will absorb most of the fertilizers.

is this true???? i wasn't aware of that. i'll have to stop running it on my med light tank. thanks for the heads up!!!

 

[mfdrookie516]

I don't think anyone can find any data to show either way Rachel... But, its not worth taking the chance on something that has marginal benefits anyways... IMO

 

[Fdsh5]

No carbon here either.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I only run carbon if I need to pull something out of the water, like meds. So sponge, poly-fil and bio-media works great for my tanks.

 

[roydooms]

This link is interesting. Check it out...


http://www.yamatogreen.com/ActivatedCarbon.htm

 

[Bettababe1011]

I don't use carbon. I use the aquatech filter cartridges, but rinse the carbon out very thoroughly.

 

[Tasha]

This link is interesting. Check it out...


Activated carbon in the Planted Aquarium

thanks for the link it was interesting. Also im surprised at how many run carbonless. Im a fairly new aquarist, and Im sort of a "rule follower" as well.... so if the instructions say then it must be true and done....

well I think when im able to get off this couch and into my car to drive (I just had bunion surgery 4 days ago) Im gettin rid of the carbon and putting in some floss

I will keep it around though for time when I may need it.