No carbon in filters? (cross posted to saltwater)

[coolchinchilla]

<tongue-in-cheek>
I've recently heard that some people don't use carbon (or any other chemical media) in their filters. 8O Is that really true? It seems that carbon is ubiquitous in this hobby. Every filter sold (ok Whisper filters) comes with carbon. Almost all the beginner info on fish tanks talk about using carbon in filters. Even acknowledging that the carbon is only good for a week at best, it is supposedly a great place to house biological bacteria.


And some people don't use carbon?????

Seriously, a few questions about carbon use:

1. Why don't you use carbon?
2. If you don't use carbon, do you use some other chemical media?
3. If you don't use carbon, how do you keep your ammonia, nitrites in check?
4. Are there setups where carbon is a bad idea?
5. Are there consequences to using carbon? (leaching stuff in water?)
6. Are there consequences to not changing the carbon very often?
7. Do you use carbon for a brief time for say an ammonia spike or to polish the water?
8. Do salt water people use carbon?
9. What would you recommend to someone who is a beginner -- some experience but a beginner with keeping fish with regard to carbon use?

(I have a community tank 15-gal running for a year and a 30 gal tank of malawi cichlids -- running for 2 months.)

Thanks in advance.
coolchinchilla. (be sure to drink a lot on these HOT days!)

 

[Jchillin]

In answer to your questions, here they are:

-Carbon isn't necessary unless you have particulate matter in your water
-No other media is necessary to replace carbon
-Bio media removes ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, not carbon
-Planted tanks are one that comes to mind immediately
-When the carbon loses it's effectiveness after about 30 days, it can leech particle matter into the tank
-see above
-This can be done however, filter floss works just as well.
-I have no idea
-If you know the properties of your tap water, filter media can be purchased to address them.

HTH

 

[madchild24]

Most saltwater aquariums dont use carbon

 

[Guest]

First of all i would just like to say that i went a month without Carbon in my filter and my water just wasn't as "crystal clear" as it used to be, so i went bck to the carbon.

Also, your bacteria, biological filter take care of ammonia and nitrites.. you shouldn't depend on carbon to do this because then you'd be changing the carbon every 3 days!

Ive heard that carbon loses its effect after about 3 days and after about 30 days it can leak debri or chemicals back into the water. So for this reason i change mine on a monthly basis.

I like the carbon because it keeps my water crystal clear and crisp looking. I tried doing the 3 sponge thing like someone suggested, but i just didn't get as good of results as i liked. I like the carbon, i think it helps, and even with a low light planted tank, i still like to keep it.

Overall i think it depends on your experience and your preference. ive experienced bad results without carbon, therefore i prefer to keep it in my filter.

 

[malkore]

Already answered this in SW forums. Here's my answers with FW in mind:

1. Never had a need for it.
2. Nope.
3. Carbon doesn't do squat for ammonia or nitrites. I think you're mis-informed on the purpose of carbon.
4. In planted tanks, carbon will absorb certain trace nutrients. Unless you have a very large bag of carbon, it shouldn't absorb enough to matter.
5. As long as you change your carbon at least every 7 days, this is a non-issue.
6. Yes, carbon only lasts 5-7 days. After that it doesn't absorb anything, and if it sits too long, it may start to break down, and could leech phosphate into the tank.
7. Carbon does nothing for an ammonia spike. Carbon is good for removing medications and odors, as well as water discoloration (though I'm not sure it can remove water discolored by tannins in driftwood)
8. Sometimes.
9. Its not a necessary item. If you water stinks, its due to over feedign and not enough water changes. IMO many (not all) people use carbon to mask poor maintenance habits.

 

[aqh88]

1. carbon removes unwanted chemicals and pollution. Living in the middle of nowhere with water coming from an underground spring into my well I have very little if any pollution for carbon to remove. I also have a planted tank.
2. I was thinking of using renew or purigen to help remove tannic acid coloration from all my driftwood. Both are from seachem and neither remove trace nutrients or leak phosphates. renew is weaker than carbon and purigen is stronger as well as rechargeable.
3.Carbon does nothing for ammonia and nitrites except maybe remove a very small amount of particulate matter that would break down to create these. In a tank with good maintenance it shouldn't make a difference.
4.Carbon can leak phosphates which are bad in alot of setups. It can also remove trace nutrients needed by plants. While it only removes a small amount a few people have found it to be a problem.
5.As said after awhile carbon will leak phosphates and the stuff it removed back into the water.
6.See above
7.Carbon does polish the water a bit more but it's not worth it on my tank. Another reason I'm looking into purigen and renew.
8. I believe kent makes a carbon for reef tanks but I could see how carbon could be bad on a saltwater tank.
9. If you can keep on a schedule changing your carbon at least monthly then go ahead and use it. It does remove some bad things that come in on your tap water and polish your water a bit more. If in the future you start up a planted tank and see problems then stop using it. There are also alot of new carbon alternatives being made.[/b]

 

[Guest]

yeah, when i had well water I always had crystal clear water, a perfect pH of 7.0 and i never had to use any water conditioners or anything. But since ive moved into town and use the city water.. well lets just say my water hasn't been as crystal clear as it once was, and my pH is like 7.6 now. (not that that even relates to carbon)
AMaybe i will look into the purigen and renew as an alternative, what website was that at?

 

[dr_girlfriend]

I generally use carbon, but I'm starting to experiment with seagel, hypersorb, chemi pure, purigen and a few others to see if they are worth the little higher cost. Good quality carbon should last at least 2-3 weeks, depending on how dirty your water is. I replace mine every 3-4 weeks. I think carbon is a good product, its used in human drinking water filter systems all the time, so I'm sure its not a useless as some people say.

I think you need to have some form of chemical filtration, not just bio and mech.

I think a set up where carbon would not be ideal, is a planted tank or a reef tank. Other forms of chem. filtration should be used.

I don't think you should depend on chem. filtration to make up for bad maintenance, but I think you should have something constantly filtering that water for contaminents. Bio- filtration only goes so far as to what it removes.

Here is a great article about activated carbon.

http://www.koivet.com/html/articles...article_id=180&category=15&search_term=carbon

 

[talloulou]

I always use carbon.

Why?

Because the filters I buy have carbon in them and I'm a sheep. Plus I have never had a problem related to carbon use. And I suscribe heavily to the,"If it isn't broke... don't fix it" adage. (This is normally where I would say LOL. I am however attempting to restrain that urge especially in light of the fact that I have already engaged in excessive period use.)

 

[coolchinchilla]

Wow... Thanks for all the replies!! That helps a lot!

And I thought carbon was sacred amongst aquarists!


coolchinchilla

 

[Fishyfanatic]

talloulou- Are you censoring yourself because of the Grammar thread?

 

[Felf]

i used carbon before but i stopped after realizing purigen was a lot more cost efficient. purigen lasts way longer than carbon and it can be regenerated using bleach however the particles are very small so make sure you use a mesh bag that can tolerate bleach and has eyes that are small enough to hold it. i heard that carbon and purigen remove trace elements from the water (mostly carbon) so i only use it when needed.

 

[aqh88]

Just check seachem.com or most online stores and you'll find renew or purigen. Even renew is much more cost effective than carbon. It can't be recharged like purigen and is weaker than carbon though. It would be good for someone with few to no contaminants in their water. Purigen is between 1/4-1/2 the cost of carbon if you replace your carbon monthly. I figured it for a 55g tank for 1 year. Since I haven't actually tried purigen myself I had to go by other peoples numbers for the amount they used.