To use carbon or not?

I change out my poly-fil every 2 weeks due to the load on the system. Bio/waste load determines how often you need to change it. I have an Oscar and they are very messy eaters so I have to change it more often than I would in a lightly stocked tank of "Cleaner" fish. There is no rinsing and re-use, it's too far gone to do that :headshake2:
 
never do I add carbon, but I use back filters. I just use filter media like this
c6_2.JPG

works wonderful and I just rinse it out every week. it lasts a long time. and it can be cut to filt any filtration!
 
There is a whole article on carbon in my blog.

If you are doing enough water changes then you should not see any benefits of using carbon. The major things carbon helps with in general are discoloration and odor, with enough water changes neither should be an issue at all. As mentioned short term use to remove medications is obviously good for carbon, but water changes help with that too. The issue is that carbon also removes some good things, like vital trace elements and micronutrients.

Ammonia removing media are also a waste of money. There are lots of nitrifying bacteria that are more than happy to do that for you for free. Unless you are shipping fish and putting a little in the bag/bucket to absorb any ammonia they may release while being shipped, no point in having it.

Just replace it with a different media. I would use Biomax unless you have that Magnum hooked up to Biowheels.
 
Not sure what happened to my last post ???

Anyway, here goes again, What is Biomax?

I emptied out the carbon and replaced with new to make sure all the meds are filtered out. Then I plan to try one of the others mentioned above in the basket of my filter. Not using the biowheel.

Tina
 
Biomax is Hagen/Fluval's porous ceramic media. I have heard Eheim's is really good too. The best biological media for submerged use. Do you have the version that has the Biowheel? If so definitely use the Biowheel, it is the best form of biological filtration.
 
reptileguy2727 said:
Biomax is Hagen/Fluval's porous ceramic media. I have heard Eheim's is really good too. The best biological media for submerged use. Do you have the version that has the Biowheel? If so definitely use the Biowheel, it is the best form of biological filtration.
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I disagree with the biowheel being all that great. yes it is very efficient at the process. However, a properly cycled tank will have all the necessary bacteria regardless of the filter type (yes you still need a filter). The problem with the bio wheel, is if for some reason the wheel gets stuck, your tank will go through a smaller cycle to build the quantities of the needed bacteria. IMO, the use of carbon is great for cycling or for after treating with meds. apart from that, it is just something else to replace. i considered using them once when i was going on a trip for a month. However, I found just using biological and solids filtration were more than enough for this. To sum it up, avoid the biowheel, and wouldn't mess with carbon (although I could seee it's need in a nano tank)
 
I agree with CCM that the Bio-wheel is another snake oil sales. It is highly over-rated as a necessary item. If that were true all filters would have one. Bio-media need not be expensive or of a particular material. A simple open cell sponge after the filter and before the return will suffice. That is Tetras idea. You could fill the empty places with loofas, plastic scrubbies, or any other item that will allow water to pass through it.
 
Great thread! I've been wondering this, and I like the poly-fill idea, I think I'll give it a try, save my carb for bad months. :-)
 
There are other differences with Biowheels. For one, they do not get clogged with debris the way any submerged media can, which can block off the food and oxygen supply to bacteria, killing them. Its design means that if any debris makes it to the wheel, within one rotation it is dumped. When properly maintained, jamming up should not be a problem. Any filter can stop working for no apparent reason. So if the canister stops running, all the bacteria in there are useless. In my experience this is even more likely than the Biowheel simply not turning. They also use atmospheric oxygen, not oxygen in the water, so they run more efficiently and leave the oxygen in the water for the fish (really they add oxygen to the water, they are great aerators). Does this all mean everyone needs to go out and get one, absolutely not. Other forms of biological filtration are do the job too. But if you do have one already, use it. In my experience they are anything but snake oil hype.

How much have you used them?
 
I currently have several with 3-5 in use. I bought them on sale a couple of years ago. I do not say they are worthless, just a different "mouse trap". I have in fact removed the bio-wheel in an experiment and found no discernible change in my water quality.

Here is an interesting article about filters in general.

Like anything else it is just one person's opinion.
 
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