I have left my carbon filter out of my tank! help!

[littlemissemily]

hi,

i have done a really silly thing and left my carbon filter out of my jewel rekord 96 for 3 weeks! i was treating my fish for various diseases and totally forgot to put it back!

im such an amateur, but was just wondering if you could give me some advice on what to do and possibly recommend a good all round water testing kit, in which i can test everything, nitrate levels ammonia levels and ph. i want to spend as little as possible really!

thanks for your help

emily x

in the uk x ) ) )

 

[IMCL85]

just put it back, the benefit bacteria is located in ur sponge not the carbon. And it might contain some bacteria but eventurally is dead after 3 week absence of water. But anyways it wouldn't usualy do alot of damage to ur tank. As it generally just use for taking out color/medicine. Just make sure u use ur tank water to give it a wash to wash out dirt then put it back to ur filter to clean up the medicine.

 

[Tolak]

The only time I run carbon is with a new setup, to remove any manufacturing residue from new equipment, or to remove meds. None of my tanks run it other than in those circumstances.

Tolak

 

[jolaf]

Really, so the tank doesnt realy need that type of filtration as long as you have a sponge for the bateria? That is pretty cool. I never knew that.

The only time I run carbon is with a new setup, to remove any manufacturing residue from new equipment, or to remove meds. None of my tanks run it other than in those circumstances.

Tolak

[snapback]903008[/snapback]​

 

[Tolak]

I think a lot of the deal with running carbon has to do with personal preference. There's a tank running at work in the office, the owner runs carbon & changes it weekly, he's looking for crystal clear water in a tank with a large piece of driftwood.

All my tanks have some driftwood, it tints the water a little, but it doesn't bother me. The fish do just fine with a little tint.

His tank & mine are on the same city water supply, heavy metals are not a concern. If your supply is well water, you may have a problem with heavy metals. Carbon will help remove them, I would consider running it then, as well as using a dechlorinator with EDTA to bind up the metals that may be present.

Tolak

 

[littlemissemily]

I think a lot of the deal with running carbon has to do with personal preference. There's a tank running at work in the office, the owner runs carbon & changes it weekly, he's looking for crystal clear water in a tank with a large piece of driftwood.

All my tanks have some driftwood, it tints the water a little, but it doesn't bother me. The fish do just fine with a little tint.

His tank & mine are on the same city water supply, heavy metals are not a concern. If your supply is well water, you may have a problem with heavy metals. Carbon will help remove them, I would consider running it then, as well as using a dechlorinator with EDTA to bind up the metals that may be present.

Tolak

[snapback]903022[/snapback]​

thanks for your advice, the water is pretty cloudy at the moment, not sure if that is because of the missing carbon filter. my fish are all moving very slowly and hardly move at all now. im worried that they may all die as i lost 4 neon/cardinal tetras last week

could the losses be anything to do with this?>

 

[Raz]

The cloudy water is due to either over feeding or a tank that hasnt cycled yet....It takes at leats 2 weeks for a freshwater tank to cycle the proper bacteria...6 months for the basics on a salt tank.....

 

[big mick]

My rio 300 has been running for months without the carbon, Ive never used it once the tank is fully cycled.

As with everything else in fishkeeping, everybody does things slightly different and some may disagree with me but it wont do any harm in my opinion.

 

[kimbowee]

I also do not use carbon in my filters. I take the cheapy way. I buy the bulk filter foam where you can add your own carbon & just use those without carbon. I do put in a new one every month. Or you can buy the foam you cut yourself. Keep up with weekly water changes and your water will still remain clear. The only time I ever put carbon in is if I am trying to remove medicine from the tanks. THen I leave the carbon in for a week & remove it with my weekly water changes.

As for the test kit your best bet is to invest the $20 and buy a master test kit. You should be able to get around 200 tests out of it and they are alot more accurate then the test strips. Although they do take a little more time but only a couple of seconds.



Editted for spelling.