Can purigen and carbon together hurt fish

[Kelly5978]

My 55g tank has 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10-20 nitrates. My tank just went through a bacterial bloom (after successfully cycling with dr. Tim's one and only). A couple days ago, I added a 20g whisper filter with a purigen and pad (in addition to my aquaclear300 with sponge, carbon, and bio bag), in hopes of helping clear the bloom. Today is day 7 of the bloom and my water is almost clear. My question is whether the carbon needs replaced, or removed, since I'm using purigen? Tonight my bala shark started turning and twisting in the same place in the tank. The big guy is afraid of the dark (seriously), so it may be nothing. But one of my denisons barbs took to hiding behind a castle. I have 5 adolescent angelfish, 2 German blue rams, 2 denisons barbs and a bala shark. There is very little aggression, and I watch these fish 24/7. Even if nothing is wrong, I would still like to know if it is okay to use a purigen and carbon in the same tank. Also, do I have to remove both if I want to use black water extract? Thank you. I appreciate the knowledge I gain from this site!

 

[Kelly5978]

Oh, the ph is 7.6. Kh-6-7, gh-8-9. Does anyone know why my kh fluctuates, but gh remains constant? If anything, I want to lower my gh (most of my fish prefer softer water). I have driftwood in the tank, but is the purigen taking out the tannins, and therefore defeating the point?

 

[Mebbid]

Kh changes because micro organisms in your tank utilize it constantly.

Both the purigen and carbon will pull the tannins out of the water negating it's effect. However any tannins in the water will make it more and more tea colored.

 

[Kelly5978]

Ok. But will running the carbon and purigen mess anything up? I spent a lot of time and money cycling. I guess I'm afraid the tank will be dependent on purigen...and if I ever have to medicate or anything, the tank will crash with the purigen removal. Also, that the carbon AND purigen is too much. Just for my peace of mind, will it be ok to just remove carbon when it's time to change it in a week? And just not replace it? Thx!

 

[Mebbid]

Really, from what I've seen purigen acts a lot like carbon does. It won't establish itself as part of your bio filter but instead will pull some of the impurities out of the water. There won't be any issues with removing either it or the carbon at any time.

 

[Hbbambislayer]

I was half way thru my cycle when my purigen arrived I yanked the carbon out of my filters and put in the purigen. Taking it out to recharge it wont cause a mini cycle the minimal bacteria that can live on it won't be missed. Same with the carbon your sponges, balls, or ceramics in the filters is what you dont mess with. Also in the tank your substrate decor and even glass all have bacteria. So dont worry about removing the carbon if you want or adding it after you medicate than removing it again. Opinions will always vary on using carbon or not but with having purigen its definately not needed and if you have plants you really dont want it. Carbon should be used to remove meds. Its just a money wasting scheme by the filter companies. Just my opinions there of course.

 

[Kelly5978]

Thx. One more question...my second, cichlid tank is showing ammonia. It's been cycled for 3 months. I found that the bio-wheel on my penguin 150 stopped spinning. After investigating, I realized there's just too much in the filter. It's got carbon, ammo-bag, bio-bag, and sponge. The spong, bio-bag, and carbon have bacteria on them. (Bio-wheel's bacteria is probably dead, as it wasn't spinning all day). So....I think I should remove the carbon. Right? If I remove one, the wheel spins again.

 

[Mebbid]

Yep. Ditch the carbon