Carbon Or Crushed Corals

[H]-[H]

I've this filter on top of the tank that has four compartments.. The first compartment, I stuff filter pads, the second with carbon, the third & fourth with ceramic rings..
My question is should I take the carbon out & replace it with crushed corals?

P.S: I keep flowerhorn & bp in the tank..

 

[Rockbass6]

I don't think taking out the carbon would allow any benifit. Do your filter pads have carbon in them? Or are they more like that sponge material fluval makes? I don't think crushed coral will make any difference. I don't personaly run carbon on my tank, I run sponges, bioballs and filter rings and keep up with my water changes. I did at one time but didn't notice any difference.

 

[Toby_H]

Crushed Coral and Carbon serve complete different purpuses... so it depends on which benefit you wish to gain...

Crushed Coral buffers water, meaning it raises KH which raises or stabilizes PH...

Carbon offers "chemical filtration" removing chemical polution from the water...

 

[IrnGynt]

Definitely crushed coral or Aragonite. Helps keep your water parameters stable. I used to have Aragonite in my sump until I went with Wonder Shells in my 75G FH tank.

 

[Toby_H]

Definitely crushed coral or Aragonite. Helps keep your water parameters stable.

That's not necessarily true, at least not in all situations...

If you have soft water with a low PH out of the tap... the crushed coral will cause the KH & PH to creep up... then when you do a water change it will again drop... then will creep up... then droip again... etc, etc, etc...

 

[JakeH]

Holy jeez! I feel like I just spotted Elvis! The nc_nutcase has returned!!!!! Skip the coral... Heck, you probably dont need the carbon either.

 

[H]-[H]

I don't think taking out the carbon would allow any benifit. Do your filter pads have carbon in them? Or are they more like that sponge material fluval makes? I don't think crushed coral will make any difference. I don't personaly run carbon on my tank, I run sponges, bioballs and filter rings and keep up with my water changes. I did at one time but didn't notice any difference.

Nope, my filter pads are just normal sponge material.. The reason I thought of replacing the carbon is that I read up on carbon & it really doesn't serve any purpose in my tank.. on the other hand, I can use crushed corals to buffer up the water pH which is good for my fish..

Crushed Coral and Carbon serve complete different purpuses... so it depends on which benefit you wish to gain...

Crushed Coral buffers water, meaning it raises KH which raises or stabilizes PH...

Carbon offers "chemical filtration" removing chemical polution from the water...

I don't really have much chemical in my tank except for the dechlorinator & salt that I add during water changes..

Holy jeez! I feel like I just spotted Elvis! The nc_nutcase has returned!!!!! Skip the coral... Heck, you probably dont need the carbon either.

So what do you suggest I replace them with?

 

[Rockbass6]

What pH are you trying to get? If you want it higher some people use deer antlers, I have also heard oak leaf litter for lowering pH, but I keep mine the same right out of the tap. If you have flowerhorn and bloodparrot a regular pH(tap water pH) should be fine. Don't use salt after a water change sometimes that can be more harm than good.
If it were me I would just run tap water and condition it. As for the filter use a biological(filter rings, sponges, even bioballs., no need for the buffers and such. What filter are you using obviously a canister, but what model? That will help us send ya in a better direction too.
In my Aquaclear 110 I have a bag of ceramic fiter rings and a sponge that is it. FX5 I run a pad on each layer and bioballs in each basket. Bottom layer is lava rock like rocks. If you stuff 2 much "stuff" in there you will restrict the flow and your filter will be less efficent.
Just keep it simple..biological and keep up with the water changes, your fish will be fine.