Carbon Survey

[Jawz]

hmm well ive been thinking and readin bout the purpose and uses of carbon. My family's tap water is filtered by carbon but that is different frm a fish tank. Ive heard many users on different boards say carbon is good to use for initial setups up to around 6 months, but then its useless and jsut stop changing it. Others keep it the whole time cuz they feel it has a good effects on the tank.

I wanna kno who uses carbon regularly, then reason and if not, why not then?

Currently i run carbon in both my AC 150s, but imma reduce it to just runnin it one for a while. I think it does some good to the tank and helps keep water clearer. That is my reason as to using it.

Also to note i will be using opinions to sway my opinions on further use of carbon in the future, cuz right now im deliberating using media bags and buying bulk carbon cuz thats alot cheaper than AC carbon bags.

 

[adamj]

Like you pointed out, it depends who you talk to. I use carbon. In one tank theres carbon because its slightly over stocked, It helps keep the water clear and smelling good, Theres a large bacteria culture in the tank, but i never place all of my faith into one type of filtration.

The other tank is a startup brackish, i've got carbon in there as well because like i said, i never put all my faith into one filter system, chemical physical or bio. I know i can easily run tanks w/o carbon, but i figure hey, i want the water as clean as possible.

It all boils down to your own judgement, no one knows your tanks better than you do.

 

[catfishmike]

i like to use carbon.i use it for a diffrent reason than adamj but almost the same.as we all know water changes provide the best water quality,but some times you can't change your water on time every week.so i use carbon to pick up the slack in between water changes.i ran my community tank for six months without carbon,no problems.heck i'm running a 5 gal.without carbon and this tank has been going for a year.also not having carbon around can be a bad idea,suppose you stop using carbon.you don't buy none for months.now ond day you come home and find your tank has a serious problem.the test kits don't show any trace of contaminates but you can tell something got in your tank.that's where carbon comes in.useing carbon to remove unknown polluants can save a tank.especialy if you keep boxfish and they have released their toxin into the tank.now on the other hand there are people that think that if they have carbon then they are safe because the carbon will pick up impuritys in the tank.to use carbon effectively you must first know the true propertys of it.now i'm not prepared to go into detail because i don't have the time or photograpic memory either to explane,but i'm sure someone will provide a link or find an old thread to refrence.

 

[adamj]

Very true catfishmike, havent thought of it that way, although i should have

Activated carbon is merely oxygenated carbon that has millions of small pores opened up in its structure. Thus increasing its surface area and allowing it to trap large amounts of chemicals. Also it can provide a breeding ground for bacteria, however its known that once carbon becomes full, it can start re-releaseing the chems back into the water. So its a good idea to keep up on carbon changes if you use it.

Not an exact explantation, but it works

 

[Jenniferhowe]

I'm just starting to hear about many people not useing Carbon in their tanks. Everyone has a different reason. For me, it's because every time I put new carbon in my planted tank I get hugh amounts of Algae. So out it comes. Plus the shit is exspensive. Pardon my French. I will put some in every now and then I think. As someone said you never know what is going on in there and those tests are often unreiable.

 

[Jawz]

hmm i just went out this weekend and got myself a big 36 oz tub. In a smaller tank like mine, the cost isnt that bad, but i can see the delemna once u get up into the 75+ area. I probly wouldnt use it in a larger tank, well unless i was financially ok cuz right now im just a teenager enjoying my 35 gallon tank.

 

[RJSorensen]

I use carbon, mostly all the time. I want a clean tank and hate water that smells. That being said I do not have or make my water stink, but Do Not Want any trace of odor in the house.

I do not believe that when carbon 'fills up' it releace's it's contants back into the tank. There is no reverse switch on the bag or the carbon granules. IMHO all you are seeing is the carbon not being able to adbsorb any more content, because it is full. This is a Old Wives tale and should be gotten rid of. Same as a fish won't out grow the tank it is in. Perhaps the same switch that controls fish growth also controls carbon release?

Just my thought . . .

 

[mann]

I don't use it regularly in my moderately planted tank. As I understand it, carbon's purpose is to absorb dissolved organic compounds, which I'd rather leave available to the plants. I haven't seen any adverse affects resulting from this: I think my water is kept very clean by the plants and frequent water changes.

I will use carbon to help absorb medications after treatments. After medicating I like to do a large water change and then put new carbon in the filter for 24-48 hours after which I throw it away.

For day to day use it seems unneccesarily expensive to me, but I do keep a relatively light fish load. I would say its usefullness varies from tank to tank.

 

[AndyL]

I don't run carbon in any of my tanks, bad enough I need to add nutrients; to have the carbon strip those away is just not good... My plants like minerals/nutrients, why add something to strip those away?

I'd have to disagree about the carbon not releasing its trapped 'nutrients' or chemicals when full. But there is a lot of argument on the subject.

One of these days I'm going to setup a test, and see for myself what carbon removes...

Andy

 

[Jawz]

but how about jsut normal fish tanks with say plastic plants or what not?

 

[geoffgarcia2]

I never have and never will use carbon in my tanks...thats just as bad as using ammo chips or ph up/down.....its nonsense....

just buy appropriate fish....and do regular water changes...

 

[RedTurquoise]

I have never used carbon in my tanks! I dont see any advantages for it! Nothing a good water change cant take care of!

I have found a very interesting carbon webpage if very good info though:

http://www.drhelm.com/aquarium/carbon.html

 

[angel51431]

are those pH up/down things really that bad? The only problems I've found with the pH up thing is that the instructions say 'do not change the pH more than .2 in any 24-hour period', and they do say to use 4 drops per gallon. But it doesnt' say how much higher the 4 drops per gallon will make the pH. Not that it matters, as much as I've tried adding it, it hasn't changed the pH. But is it actually harmful, though?

Hmm, I've always had carbon in my AC mini, it was originally there, I never really reconsidered it. Though I'm a bit late upon changing it, I only remember to maybe once or twice a year. Shame on me.

 

[Jawz]

well im using it for my small fish until they grow out a bit, i see soem advantage but not enough for long term use. Like i got a 60oz jar like i stated before, and when thats done im just gonna fill up the media bag with more lava rock and use it for biofiltration

those Ph things are said to have phospate in them which lead to algae outbreaks, and typically stuff in bottles is not the answer.