Water Changes and Filter Media

[Atl300zx]

Since i just made the switch to a planted tank, i have a couple more questions:

When doing water changes, should i still add treatments to my tap water like Seachem Prime? the reason i ask is b/c it detoxifies Nitrates and i was wondering if this was undesirable.

The second question i have is regarding Filter Media. I have a HOB filter and dont see moving to a canister filter for a while. First off i would have to spend a good chunk of change for one to effeciently filter my 55 gallon and second i dont have any more room under my tank inside my stand to store one. The co2 equipment takes up all the room, i would need to get a new stand as well if i went with a canister filter and i wouldnt even know how to start with that. So back to my HOB filter. It has the usual drop in filters that have the "floss" material and the black & white granules (activated carbon and somethign else). Are these ok for a planted tank or should i be filtering with some other media?

TIA

 

[travis simonson]

Yes, definitely continue to use Prime. Without it, chlorine and chloramines from your tap water would not be detoxified. It has no significant impact on nitrate levels.

As for your filter media, I would ditch the filters with the activated carbon. It is an adsorbent that can, when new, remove nutrients from your tank water. It is fairly useless for anything after a week or so. I recommend loading your filter with mechanical and biological media for best results

 

[7Enigma]

As for your filter media, I would ditch the filters with the activated carbon. It is an adsorbent that can, when new, remove nutrients from your tank water. It is fairly useless for anything after a week or so. I recommend loading your filter with mechanical and biological media for best results

One caveat is not to replace it too quickly if it makes up most of your filter. 1/3 or less and everything should be fine, but if its more then 1/2 the filtration media I'd change it out slowly. Even with plants you don't want a small ammonia spike to cause algae problems even before you get started with the plants!

 

[Purrbox]

Some additional information about Prime and the detoxification of Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. Prime detoxifies these chemicals by converting them to another chemical that is less dangerous to fish, it does not remove them or make them unavailable to the biofilter or plants.