Carbon (Charcoal)

[thadius65]

I read something and wanted to verify. Is liquid fertilizer absorbed and removed by active carbon in canister filters if present? For those of you with planted tanks, do you use carbon?

Thanks,

Ted

[Cityfish]

Yes you should remove the carbon. The effects of carbon, and its ability to remove odor, last for only a few days. I have not noticed any difference in odor or cleanliness since removing the carbon from my filters.

[thadius65]

Hmmm.. I have a Fluval 304 and 404. I currently have the following in them:

(304)
Bottom - 2 Carbon pouches
Middle - 1 Carbon pouch and 1 Peat pouch
Top - 2 filled with bio media

(404)
Bottom - 2 Carbon pouches
Mid 1 - 2 Peat pouches
Mid 2 - Bio media
Top - Bio media

What would I replace them with, just something for mechanical filtration?

Thanks,
Ted

[Ms.Bubbles]

In place of the carbon you can put another filter sponge, or some filter floss, or a mesh bag of bioballs. These would provide more mechanical filtration (if you used a sponge or floss) plus more area for the "good" bacteria to grow on.

[webcricket]

I did not realize the carbon would remove liquid fertilizers! I'll have to switch out the carbon in my planted tanks.

[kyle3]

hey guys like was said above. . . carbon's chemical fitration abilities are used up after only a few days but it stays a fabulous biomedium -

so if you have carbon that's been in your filter more than a few days don't worry about it filtering your ferts out and just treat it like any other bio medium in your filter. only change it if it's seriously clogged with muck (which only happens when you're neglecting your maininence schedule)

cheers-k

[phanmc]

Carbon doesn't affect liquid fertilizers all that much, especially since we are usually adding an overabundance of nutrients when we fertilize. Now I don't use carbon on a daily basis because I think it's unnecessary in a properly maintained tank, but you don't need to worry about it if your filter media comes prepackaged with carbon.

[plah831]

I did not realize the carbon would remove liquid fertilizers! I'll have to switch out the carbon in my planted tanks.
just to clarify, carbon doesn't remove nitrogen or phosphorus, calcium or potassium, just some metals like possibly iron and manganese, etc. And as stated, it's only active for a short while. Either way, I stopped using carbon in my tanks, too.

[webcricket]

Hmmm...I don't normally add carbon on a regular basis - just with the media whenever I replace the filter pad which is maybe every 6 months. I won't worry about it then!