Who uses carbon?

[Savior19]

im guessing i should stop using carbon?

 

[johnptc]

i think it goes like this:

for tanks that get major water changes regularly carbon is not going to do much as the old water is flushed regularly


however for a tank that isnt getting major water changes carbon will adsorb many organic chemicals that 'pollute' the aquarium.


having said that i am adding carbon filtration to the big tank as the nitrate filter has greatly reduced the need for monster water changing as the nitrates are holding around 10 -15 ppm.




.

 

[Savior19]

yeah well im always changing my water so i geuss it would be ok to but more bio stuff

 

[gonnelro]

Probably a good idea Savior. Thats what I did with my tank, I just removed all the carbon and replaced it with matrix rocks and polyfilter. The polyfilter clogs easily, but its excellent mechanical filtration as long as you rinse it regularly. As far as the increased bioload from the extra matrix, who knows, cant hurt, but I didnt have any ammonia or nitrites before, so I guess its not a big difference. Either way you gotta keep up with the water changes, removing the carbon just saves cash as you dont need to replace it and leavs more room for more beneficial filtration.