Carbon???

[orlok]

To carbon... or not to carbon?!? Orlok says, Yeh... Legr@dbot says, Neh...
The debate is on!
What side are you on???

[beblondie]

The only reason i use carbon is to 1) remove meds 2) remove odors till I figure out the cause 3) remove discoloration in the water till i figure out the cause.Otherwise
i never use it and haven't for years-Anne

[sephir420]

dont use carbon exept in rair cases. i usualy use purigen. (suposed to be better than carbon in removing organics.) still deciding on that... :idea:

[piranha45]

i dont use carbon ever.

[Vitaliy]

I have always used carbon and only recently I took out the carbon on one of my tanks and its doing just fine, considering of removing it on the other tanks as well...

[LeGrandB@t]

So our little quarrel is public now :grinno:

I dont use carbon because:
1 my tanks are lightly stocked
2 I do lots of waterchanges and have sufficient filtration (bio & mech)
3 many of my tanks are planted and have driftwood (i like the brown tinge)
4 carbon costs lots of money!!!

All in all it just isnt worth using in my situation.

[orlok]

So our little quarrel is public now :grinno:

I dont use carbon because:
1 my tanks are lightly stocked
2 I do lots of waterchanges and have sufficient filtration (bio & mech)
3 many of my tanks are planted and have driftwood (i like the brown tinge)
4 carbon costs lots of money!!!

All in all it just isnt worth using in my situation.

I on the other hand, like the "polished look" but with the decorative use of driftwood, rootwood etc. I try to use resins instead but they can be hard to come by at times. But as you know Mr. Bot, I'm a big advocate for water changes. Especially when you have a large bio-load.

My ultimate feeling on carbon is that "it's the water change between water changes!"

[DeLgAdO]

i use chemipure

[Kutty]

I use carbon combined with zeolite in my quarantine, NOT hospital, tank, because I only use salt as a remedy in that tank. I don't use carbon in any of my other tanks, because I like the brown-yellow colour created by the bogwood.

[rayman45]

in some tanks
only the tanks i want crystal clear

i usally fill a powerhead with carbon and put it in the tank for a week or 2

[LeGrandB@t]

Yeah I use purigen and chemipure.

[buddah101]

I stopped using carbon after I had a HITH & HLLE outbreak and I know I was feeding ok!

[rollerboy244]

From what i have read you need a lot of carbon to be effective---one source i think said 1 cup per 25 gallons? it gets quickly exhausted but can become a surface for biological filtration.
I am currently trying purigen which is a resin made by seachem-check out there website,it's possible to regenerate and re-use under certain conditions.They recommend using in a canister as apposed to HOB power filter.Little fishes makes a reactor that is perfect for purigen,but requires a flow rate i think of about 90 gph.
The negative aspect of purigen is whether it can take out too much---this i don't think has been determined.Correct me if i am wrong but this is the problem with carbon being a source of hole in the head disease--taking out essential elements in the water required by fish.
Other than using carbon for removing odors--i use it just in my filters hooked up to my fluval surface skimmers for protein removal-i would personally not use it as there are alternate ways to polish water