FAQ on activated carbon... other important information

[CRUSHER]

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwchemfiltrants.htm

[eklikewhoa]

Unless its to filter fresh water for water changes carbon is probably the best money making gimmick ever to be sold to the unknowledgable.

[eklikewhoa]

Think there was an article about carbon leaching what it was used to remove to if left too long.

I'm sure the topic has been beat to death on here so a little searching and you'll find a world of info.

[CRUSHER]

well you always read in forums about fish not doing well... a carbon change or removal could solve some of the sick fish problems... food for thought

[wesleydnunder]

Some more info: http://www.cee.vt.edu/ewr/environmen.../sketcarb.html

http://www.algone.com/aquarium-articles/aquarium-filtration/activated-carbon

Carbon has its uses, like Quoc said. I haven't used it in any of my tanks for decades.

Mark

[Complexity]

Unless its to filter fresh water for water changes carbon is probably the best money making gimmick ever to be sold to the unknowledgable.

With a few exceptions, such as removing medication from water for example, I agree with this. I do not believe there is a need to use carbon on a regular basis these days.

I believe carbon started being used because old filters were not powerful enough to push water through anything that could actually clean the water so all they could use were plastic replacement cartridges with a very thin sheet of blue filter floss and chunks of carbon. The carbon served a useful purpose of picking up stuff from the water without clogging easily. To put this in prospective, this was also when people were using air pumps with undergravel filters, neither of which were any good. Detritus and excess food sat in the tank to break down unless you vacuumed it out so carbon had its place at that time.

However filtration has advanced greatly since then, making carbon pretty much obsolete. Filters these days actually clean out the crud in the tanks so it's not left there to break down into the water. And if there is a desire to polish the water, there are better alternatives such as Purigen, which not only do a better job than carbon, but can be recharged and reused over and over again.