Fertilisers And A Fluval 305?

[Elly]

I recently added a Fluval 305 external filter to my Juwel Vision 180, and removed the Juwel internal filter. My tank is heavily planted and I'm using Seachem Flourish liquid fertiliser. However, something I read in PFK magazine made me think - it said that carbon in filters removes fertiliser. In the external, most of the chambers contain carbon and I thought this is how it should be. Will they be removing the fertiliser? And if so, what should I do?

 

[George Farmer]

Carbon filtration is not necessary in a planted tank. As you suggest, it may remove some beneficial nutrients. Good plant growth is normally enough to deal with the toxins that carbon is designed to remove. I would replace the carbon with additional bio/mech media.

 

[Castellop123]

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[Dave Spencer]

Replace the carbon and put different media in its place...

If it is a heavily planted tank like you say, then I would put the emphasis on mechanical filtration, ie. replace the Carbon with sponge.

I would also remove any Zeolite as well, if you are using it. The beauty of a healthy planted tank is that you don`t have to overcomplicate filtration by using various weird and wonderful filter media. Go for effective mechanical filtration to give crystal clear water with lots of water movement all around the tank.

Just my opinion, Dave.