So I stopped using activated carbon...

tekonus

tekonus

...meh?
Nov 20, 2008
471
1
16
Long Island, NY
...and I wish I would have done it a long time ago. I've had live plants for about a year and I've had some pretty decent success. Though, I have had a few plants that seemed like they just would refuse to grow, even though they were suppose to be fine in my setup. I've been reading more and more here that a lot of you don't bother with activated carbon unless you are taking out meds or something along those lines... So I figured I'd stop using it to see how it changes things.

My plants have never looked this good or grown as fast. They look 100% healthier overall. I haven't changed the way I do anything. The only difference is that I changed out the carbon bags in my two AC50's for a second filter sponge in each one. Now they each have 2 sponges and a bio-bag.

One sword-type (i forget exact name) plant that I had that seemed like it had refused to grow since I placed it in the tank has started growing, my anarchis has gone wild, my banana plants have leaves the size of my fist and my crypt wendtii leaves look so much greener and seem to be growing longer as well.

I'm just wondering if anyone one has had a similar experience.
 
Some folks have posited that carbon can remove some essential trace elements that plants need. Could be detrimental for plants in a low tech tank. Do you dose ferts?
I didn't have many plants when I used to use carbon so I can't say for sure that it made a difference when I stopped using it.
 
It's said that it can remove trace elements but I have not seen any experimental data to prove such a claim. I assume if you are adding ferts at a large level activated carbon isn't going to put a dent in the nutrient levels, if it affects them at all. It's possible that at lower nutrient levels plants are affected more because the amount of available elements has been cut down by a greater factor, even though it is unnoticeable to us? Not sure, but a lot of well known planted tank enthusiasts (Tom Barr for example) have repeadly stated that AC have no effect on plants or nutrient levels.
 
I removed the activated carbon from my canisters awhile ago for the same reasons and although I made many changes in my maintenance routine at once I do believe it helped as well. I am not as consistent as I should be with my ferts and only sporadically remember to dose the tanks.

I do believe the AC would be less of an issue if you were doing something like an EI fert schedule.
 
I dose regular Flourish at the appropriate dose for my tank size once a week, usually right after I do my weekly water change. I also noticed that some minor hair algae that was on a few plants has been essentially eliminated as well, but I also picked up 2 SAE a few weeks ago, so they may be why.
 
Personally, I've never seen any major benefits to using activated carbon anyway. The only thing it's good for is taking colors/odors out of the water. It'd not even effective at removing nitrogenous wastes, unless you factor in that once it's spent it serves as a good bed for denitrifying bacteria. Frankly, I'd recommend a sack of aquarium gravel over activated carbon, unless you're trying to take out a chemical, color, or odor.
 
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