no more carbon ??

[fishboy87]

M seriously considering taking out my carbon from my fluval 405 after finding out that it can harm my fish if it's not replaced every month .... What should I put instead?? Polyester?? How can I keep the water from becoming smelly( that's why I liked the carbon) ...



I do have a aqueon 55 that holds two cartridges with carbon in them.... I can always keep those...( to minimize the smell)

 

[LyndaB]

I don't use carbon in any of my tanks and my tanks don't smell. Perhaps you need to do better gravel vacs?

 

[Nomadu571]

What does it smell of? A well maintained aquarium shouldn't smell really, and I have not heard people using carbon for the smell in any case. IMO leave the carbon out an get some filter floss or biomax.

 

[fishboy87]

What is filter floss ??? And if I add another set of biomax I would have three...

 

[fishboy87]

I'm also considering polishing pads....I'll have three biomax at the bottom and the polishing pad at the top... How does that sound....


Ps. I guess it gets a little smelly because it's in my girlfriends bedroom with too little air circulation.... Just a guess...

 

[fishboy87]

Hey guys any replies? Lol

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Sounds like it smells musty from moisture build up in the room. A dehumidifier would help and so would opening the windows and doors when ever possible and turning in a fan for air circulation. You don't want too much moisture build up because it will course mould and mildew which is bad for your health.

 

[fishboy87]

Sounds like it smells musty from moisture build up in the room. A dehumidifier would help and so would opening the windows and doors when ever possible and turning in a fan for air circulation. You don't want too much moisture build up because it will course mould and mildew which is bad for your health.

got it.... Thanks, but what about my idea about my idea of the three bioma and one polish pad....

 

[mfdrookie516]

Carbon won't hurt anything, but it stops working after a little while (anywhere from a week to a month depending on how much stuff is in the water). For the smell, I'd just up the water changes. I've NEVER had a tank smell bad, but I've always been on top of water changes, no less than 50% weekly.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

got it.... Thanks, but what about my idea about my idea of the three bioma and one polish pad....

Couldn't hurt. Three trays of biomedia would work. It wouldn't cause a problem if that's what your asking.

 

[fishboy87]

I beleive someone on this site stated that the carbon become toxic after a while and must be changed once every month..... Is that correct?

 

[JesseMessykinn]

I beleive someone on this site stated that the carbon become toxic after a while and must be changed once every month..... Is that correct?

Never herd of that, but id say go with fiber floss Ive got it. It will give you a Bang for you buck. Youll save, and does about the same as carbon. I like the floss.

 

[Cornstar]

Instead of using carbon as filtration, what would be good to put into the cartridges?

 

[fishboy87]

Never herd of that, but id say go with fiber floss Ive got it. It will give you a Bang for you buck. Youll save, and does about the same as carbon. I like the floss.

Fiber floss??? Never heard of that.... How often does it need to be changed????

 

[mfdrookie516]

I beleive someone on this site stated that the carbon become toxic after a while and must be changed once every month..... Is that correct?

It might be on here somewhere, but if it is, it isn't true. Carbon doesn't leech stuff back out once it's full. It requires tremendous heat and a few other things to do so. While it is completely uneccessary, and usually a waste of money, it isn't harmul at all.

 

[aqua_chem]

It might be on here somewhere, but if it is, it isn't true. Carbon doesn't leech stuff back out once it's full. It requires tremendous heat and a few other things to do so. While it is completely uneccessary, and usually a waste of money, it isn't harmul at all.

It depends on exactly what is adsorbed onto the carbon. As the adsorption process isnt irreversible, things will continue to come off of it as long as you have it, but those spots in the carbon will quickly be replaced with something else. Large molecules like some meds will stick on pretty well, but it depends on the molecule.

 

[potatochobit]

if you have a bad smell in the tank usually that is algae or something rotting
if you have lots of gravel be sure to siphon way down with a big siphon, none of these little 10g hoses they market

as usual, what it comes down to is how often do you do partial water changes?
carbon harming fish is completely false, but whatever the carbon was holding, once it is saturated it could come loose over time - talking about months here

 

[GodFan]

My tanks every once in a while smell like prime. Usuall I like the smell of the tanks. Reminds me off the indoor parts of a zoo.