Carbon in the filter-discussion thread

[krazeeboy]

what about this article which says carbon can revert your tank into an uncycled tank?
http://www.fishyou.com/freshwater/carbon.html

please read this because i am confused about carbon now.

 

[BettaFishMommy]

if that theory were true, there would be a lot more hobbyists that run carbon in their tanks seeing ammonia and nitrite spikes. and i am sure there are a number of AC members that run carbon that test with API that don't see spikes.

 

[irishspy]

...i am sure there are a number of AC members that run carbon that test with API that don't see spikes.

Such as me. I come down on the carbon side of the carbon/no-carbon divide, and I've never noticed an unusual ammonia or nitrite spike. :thm:

 

[fishman61]

I buy my super activated carbon in bulk from www.fritzpet.com , I bought a 55lb box which will last the rest of my life

 

[BettaFishMommy]

i've put carbon in my canister on my cichlid tank for the next five days to test the theories of the article. we'll see.

 

[Alexandrian]

A very good discussion
I started using carbon in my in my tanks about 2 weeks ago
I wonder if it is time to replace it?
How long carbon should be kept in the canister filter before being replaced?
I remember that my mother use to put some charcoal in the Refrigerator to remove unpleasant smells- I am talking about raw charcoal not treated with any chemicals what so ever-, As i remember my since teacher - that was like a century ago- told me that heating charcoal on fire will re activate it, I wonder if the same thing will work with the Aquarium carbon, I believe it is just a charcoal but with fancy label

what do you think?

 

[BettaFishMommy]

ok, five days is up (well, actually almost six days, lol). i have not done a water change in between putting the carbon in the filter on May 28th and today, as water change day was the day i put the carbon in. the water change i did prior to adding carbon was the same as others, about 50%.

result: slightly hazy water due to me not rinsing the carbon quite enough. this haziness resulted in me not being able to see if the carbon helped with TDS (total dissolved solids). nitrates are lower than they would normally be this many days after a water change. nitrates are closer to the 15/20 mark rather than the 30 mark, with 30 the norm for about 5 or so days after water change day. the filter floss on both filters was changed when the carbon was added. i did not change any other variables in the tank. fish behaviour, etc stayed the same for the duration of the experiment.

so is it worth it to run carbon all the time to keep your nitrate level lower, as per the article? for the result i got on my cichlid tank i don't believe it was worth it for me, as the nitrate level did not change enough for me to warrant the need for it to be in my filter at all times, and that would add an extra cost to my fishkeeping, without improving things enough to warrant the cost.