should i put carbon in my filter?

[MikeGuerra]

ive had a 90 gallon running for about 4-5 months with a spotted gar a silver aro a poly endli and a ck

all living happily for a while now . i had a box from the filter i had bought some media a while ago that i put in the box and there is carbon that i picked up but never actually used it.....should i put it in the filter on my next cleaning or is it ok without it or do you use it for certain reasons?......thanks in advance

 

[David R]

I'd save it to use if you ever need it for a specific purpose like removing meds or tannins from the water. If your tank is running fine now you won't gain much from using it.

 

[pigoo]

Carbon is good for removing odors, medicines, tannins (as mentioned above), etc. Otherwise you really do not need it.

And definitely do not use carbon if you are purposely medicating your tank/fish...since the carbon will simply remove it.