You're right, it absolutely depends on bio load. That's why we have stocking levels for tanks.
Agreed
However most people don't observe them.
Assume you're dumping 100 units of something into the tank weekly and changing out 50% of the water as well. .
Week 1 - 100 units
Water Change 1 - 50 units
Week 2 - 150 units
Water Change 2 - 75 units
Week 3 - 175 units
Water change 3 - 87.5 units
Week 4 - 187.5 Units
Water Change 4 - 93.75 units
Week 5 - 193.75 units
Week 5 water change - 96.875
My point in spelling this out, is that it will never rise above 200 units i.e. Equillibrium.
This is exactly what I wanted you to see. Each week you have a little bit more and a little bit more, even after you water change. If you keep going, you will get over 200
Then 300
ETC.
Also, I notice you did not run the math on the phosphate issue. The point was you can;t get below 1ppm if your tap has 1ppm
You're right, that was a poor statement on my part.
I was getting a little heated too. Lets not let a little aquarium debate ruin something more valuable
I apologize for being so cranky.
What benefits does it have exactly? I've heard keeping your water clear but other than this I'm not sure what you guys are trying to argue for. I don't believe I ever heard this one clearly stated. He uses GBRs as an example, however their water has huge levels of DOC in the water where they come from. Why is knocking that down as low as possible helping them?
I agree it might be a marginal benefit health wise. After all, almost no one does this. The benefit I was trying to get across is that it is a semi accurate way to have some idea how many organics are in 1 sample of water vs another, or vs a pure sample etc. Something we lack in the hobby. I plan to develop some kind of time test with a standard solution once I get my PP.
No, you didn't. At all. In fact, this is exactly what you said.
Sunday at 9:27 I said "That does not mean it is always "Necessary" but it provides a very nice water quality improvement in most cases."
I did say organics will accumulate over time even with water changes. I did not say it would turn yellow or be smelly. However, now that you mention it...It eventually would get yellow. The smelly part might be avoided from gravel vacuuming but hard to say. 10 points for gryffindor
BTW, 24 hours after implementing AC on my tank the water is looking crystal clear. With only a 20% every 3-4 days it was hazy and yellow due to the soil. I realize most people don't have soil
Same thing applies to organics you cannot see.
Sunday at
So what you're saying is that without it aquarium water will turn yellow and get smelly.
Where did I say this? I did say that it helps remove yellow and smelly, not that it was the only way. Although now that I think about it....It probably would. So maybe I should have said that
So without activated carbon my tank will be ugly and smelly. That may not be what you intended to say, but that's exactly how it reads.
I can see where someone might interpret it that way but it is not what I said or meant. We all know water changes will prevent this in most types of tanks. At least for a pretty long time.
I'm calling it a band aid because that's what it is. Those additions can hide problems in your tank, but if you addressed those problems you wouldn't have to hide anything at all.
LOL, what problem? That I have fish that need to eat in my tank? That's where organics come from.
I don't know about you, but I use the aroma of my tank as an indicator for something going wrong (if your tank smells bad there's a huge problem). If I cram AC in the tank to fix the smell then all I am doing is covering up the underlying problem while burying my head in the sand to ignore it.
I do too. If I get a bad smell on a tank I am rehabing for a friend I always do a few water changes and also add some AC if possible to help scrub the last little bit.
If you don't have time to do water changes then reduce the stocking of your tank. It's that easy. Smaller bio load, the slower things will change. However, even using buckets to change out 50% of the water on a 55g tank is a 20 minute process (yes i'm sure of that number because I timed it when I was taking care of a friends tank)
Every bodies situation is different, but also not all species can tolerate this amount of change. For my case I buffer the water above the tap concentration. In the past I had problems with my sensitive neons dying if I changed more then 20% at one time. In fact I just recently learned right here on this forum that TDS (Osmotic) shock is probably more of an issue then Ph Shock. I expect that is what was happening.
Very Nice Aquascape
If you don't have 20 minutes in your week to do a water change then you are cruising for a heart attack and need to think about restructuring your life.
I believe I sad I did 1 change every 3-4 days. Which is more then 1 a week. I still need AC to get what I want. Respectfully, it's not your place to tell other people how they should spend there life or weather they have time for an aquarium or not. As we talked about before, what if 20 minutes a week is not enough. Some people like heavy bio loads and have healthy fish a beautiful tanks. They use other tech to help them do it. It's not a crime.
This thread has gotten way way way to far away from useful. You and I will just have to agree to disagree. I'm going to let it go. I said what I came to say. We have both defended our position. I don't think there is any point we missed. No doubt this battle will happen over and over as high tech approach people battle it out with water change and sponge only approach people.