charcoal

you don't really need the charcoal, its mainly for removing chemicals and meds


www.bluewhippet.net

I would recommend always having charcoal in your filter unless you are treating an illness. If you dont have the charcoal the only thing being filtered out of you tank is large chunks of debris. With the charcoal in you will remove most contaminets and help prevent illness.

Charcoal is used as a chemical filter. It removes certain chemicals from the water. It works well if thats what you want to do. You should have a specific goal in mind because…

It only remains active for a short period of time (a few days at most) as a chemical filter.

After that it makes a fine mechanical filter media, but it stops doing the other thing. There are other good mechanical filter media that are cheaper and work just as well.

I normally do not use any charcoal in my tank.

downloader said:

you don't really need the charcoal, its mainly for removing chemicals and meds


www.bluewhippet.net

Click to expand...

And to keep water clear, and to take the smell out, and a source of chemical filteration.

To keep the water clear and smell out...sure. If you don't take care of your tank very well.

I have never needed charcoal in my filters to keep the water clear or to keep them from smelling.

A lot of people use it as a crutch to try and hide poor maintenance. Others use it because they have heard or read that it helps. But test not using it for yourself for a few months. Then, if the water starts looking bad or smelling, try and find out exactly why that is happening. And figure out if charcoal is simply masking something that you are doing wrong.

How often is "too often" for water changes? I have a green Algae problem and I've changed upto 30-40% the last three changes (once a week) now it is a lighter green. I have two filters and I was wondering if more Charcoal will work, but after reading your message, that won't help.

You might want to set this off as a separate post. Its a bit off topic and your more likely to get better responses that way.

30-40% isn't too often or too much for water changes. I try to do 50% once a week (not as weekly as I might like, but its a goal).

I'm not having any luck with the search feature tonight, but try running green water and blackout through it.

Algae needs light and nutrients. You probably like to see your fish, so better to work on the nutrients. Are you maybe feeding too much? Fish need less than you might think. Is that your normal water change regimen or are you changing more in response to the green water? It could be diminishing as you pull nitrates out of the tank. Any idea what your nitrate levels are? (less than at least 40 ppm is good, less than 20 is better). What are your stocking levels (how many fish in how big of a tank)?

On the light issue… plants? Do you leave the light on when you're not around? Any way to reduce lighting?

A temporary blackout is one approach to green water. Try three days with no light at all. Cover up the tank with a blanket even. Do a big water change. Repeat.

But if you don't figure out why its there, its just as likely to come back.

HTH

Green water from alage is often a symptom of soemthing gone wrong, at least from my experience. I know I used to have a grass plant and my tank became very green with algae. I tried to reduce through water changes but it came back, I tried blackouts but it came back, I resorted to chemcials but it came back. Then I noticed how bad the grass plant looked and I removed it. After 1 more water change I have never had green water again.

I would also agree that carbon is really a waste of money for everyday use. I keep it around in case I have to use meds, but my filter just uses a sponge (Ihave a hang on back type). Try using a gravel vacuum on your tank durign water changes to reduce the amount of nutrients in your water. And test your tap water to see if it contains phosphates or nitrates. You could actually be giving the algae extra food during water changes without even realizing it. Your water company shoudl be able to help you determine that.