Charcoal in a planted tank

[meviva]

Is it ok to use charcoal in a planted tank? I read somewhere that you have to be careful using it in a planted tank but I don't know why. I am not using a CO2 system but have driftwood that is making the tank brownish and I would like to clear it up using Purigen and charcoal. Is it safe?

Thanks

 

[phin]

purigen will do a fine job on its own removing color from the water, don't worry about using charcoal.

 

[meviva]

The driftwood has only been in the tank for a week. I checked the purigen in the filter and it was very brown. I put in a new bag and am bleaching the old one. Did a partial water change. I'll see what happens.

 

[Kuddos 2 U]

I have some charcoal, but am not sure if I can use it in an aquarium as filter media.