I have been hearing a lot that people are not using carbon as an "every day" media. Only for medication removal. Is this common practice now? I have always thought that carbon was essential in an aquarium. What are the thoughts of the pros here? I just bought some Purigen to add to my sump filter. Would like feed back on that as well.
CARBON PROS/CONS
- Thread starter Gary_Gilbert
- Start date
Yes I once too thought the same, it simply removes colors odors and meds cuz carbon is very pouros, but as long as you have SUFFICIENT BIO MEDIA your golden, take away the carbon and throw extra ceramic or bio balls in there. You will save $$$ and this applies to sumps wetdry canister hob and any filter!
#1 S. Vettel
I'm not sure about Purigen but the only CON I can think of related to using carbon is that you have to change every month or so and it's not cheap for the good stuff. Other than that, I think it's all Pro's.
PURIGEN is great stuff. I use it on a few of my tanks to keep the levels a little more stable. I think stability is best. When you do huge wc a week your goin from old water which is seasoned, prob a little tanic, and usually high amounts of nitrates and phosphates. Then you add new fresh water that depending where you live could be very hard and have heavy metals in it. I know dechlor helps that. But if your doin over 50% a week tour water is changing drastically. When you use purigen or carbon it keeps everything stable
sent from below the water line
sent from below the water line
I only use biological, I always have a jug of carbon on standby if I need to remove stuff from my water...
Haven't used carbon in years there is a slight fishy smell near tank on occassion, but wc's fix that 
Haven't used carbon in years there is a slight fishy smell near tank on occassion, but wc's fix that