Stupid Question about activated carbon

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Tampa2Josh

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 15, 2011
56
0
6
Villas, NJ
So I have been running two Rena Filstar XP4 canisters on my 180 gallon. It's extremely over filtered for the tank size but I like to over filter and I've been running these filters on my tank with no problems for a little over three years. I've changed the stock in the tank from time to time, and right now I have my newly aquired baby Aimara in there currently. I've always used activated carbon and it's kept my water crystal clear, but is there any reason I should be using it for anything other than removing toxins/meds from my tank. As my Aimara is my new baby, I want to do everything to accommodate her as best as possible. This has caused me to begin to research anything and everything I can be doing better, and one of the things I found was a lot of people aren't using activated carbon at all. So I guess my question is should I be using activated carbon at all? I do at least 1 sometimes 2 water changes a week so I keep my water clean and with just the one fish my bioload is small. And if I shouldn't be using it at all what should I put in it's place in my filter? Nothing?

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J

Jc1119

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 27, 2010
4,432
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Orlando fl
I'd just fill it up with bio of your choice. Maybe a few extra sponges or pads.

Actual flow on a Rena Xp4 is 194gph filled with media, so you're not quite as over filtered as you may think.


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David R

David R

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Apr 26, 2005
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I don't think I've used active carbon since last millenium.
 
T

Tampa2Josh

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 15, 2011
56
0
6
Villas, NJ
Haha thanks guys, I just have always used it and never gave much thought into ditching it. And even with the GPH flow being only 194 I'm running two of them so I'm still doing alright as far as over filtration.

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D

Daonni

Gambusia
MFK Member
Dec 5, 2012
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I would say in your case having less than 400gph you are no where near overfiltered, if anything you would be under filtered in some stuations having less than 3x turnover. But if tank is clean and numbers are good don't worry.

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J

Jc1119

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 27, 2010
4,432
17
0
Orlando fl
Tampa2Josh said:
Haha thanks guys, I just have always used it and never gave much thought into ditching it. And even with the GPH flow being only 194 I'm running two of them so I'm still doing alright as far as over filtration.

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Click to expand...

You're turning you're tank just a little over 2x an hour. Normal filtration is around 3-4x. I over filter several tanks and they are in the 7-10x range.

Your setup may be fine for now, as the fish is small, but as the wolf fish grows, you may want to add filtration. Just something to think about.

Carbon does work, but it gets pretty expensive to replace it all the time. Purigen is a much cheaper alternative as it's rechargeable , but it's alot more selective than carbon. In a healthy system, carbon is largely unnecessary.
 
T

Tampa2Josh

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 15, 2011
56
0
6
Villas, NJ
I appreciate the feedback guys, again thank you. I guess I should probably throw a little more filtration in there although I test my water every 4-5 days and my water parameter have all been fine for years. The every 4-5 day water change paired with the fact that the way my power head is set up all the waste blows into one corner where I remove it daily. I'll just keep an eye on the water as she grows and if I see any changes I'll up the filtration for sure.

As for purigen, what are the benefits? Apparently I've been running carbon unnecessarily for years, and I stay on top of my water changes.

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B

BigTanker22

Feeder Fish
Jun 19, 2014
3
0
0
Arizona
I've used the XP4,actually 2 of them on my 150gal & 200 gal tanks, & I have found them to be Great. To "re-activate" the charcoal filters and save money on just replacing them, I have soaked them in salt water barrel for a couple weeks and then rinsed them out.
I have seen Negative "posts" listed here out about people who have burned out their impellers and believe they have not assembled the filter properly. Probably have not had the rube seats lined up right.
I do use a "shiner"filter pad in just one filter at a time, and am able to clean that easily weekly.
I've used these filters for about ten years each without need of repairs.
I keep one tank of very aggressive fish, another with semi-aggressive fish and then my guppy tanks use 2 types of filters tem at the same time. I feed the guppys to the aggressive fish as needed.
 
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BigTanker22

Feeder Fish
Jun 19, 2014
3
0
0
Arizona
I also agree about the Purigen and keeping all of your "Biological" growths in your filter media, still, the carbon does complete the needed quality for purities you cannot test for without an industrial laboratory and it takes up the space in the filter properly to keep up a good water flow through the filter.
 
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