No more carbon......

[freshmike]

Gonna give the no carbon thing a try in one of my 33's and my 90.........hopefully nothing tragic happens!

 

[smb]

Gonna give the no carbon thing a try in one of my 33's and my 90.........hopefully nothing tragic happens!

As long as you do regular water changes then carbon isn't needed. If I do anything helpful here, I want to preach to the novice that carbon is useless and a waste of money and that a fishless cycle is better and doesn't hurt fish. I will preach those 2 aspects til I drop dead.

I haven't used carbon in years. I said I did in one of my tanks here a bit ago for fear of getting hammered like happens in most forums but once I knew this was a tottaly different forum than any other and the friendliest I've come across, I let the cat out of the bag. I haven't used it in so many years I can't even be honest the last time I actually did use it.

I used to have 344 tanks of cichlids and breeded quite a few of them and never once used carbon during that time. Fish just don't breed if they aren't happy with their surroundings and I've found filter floss holds more beneficial bacteria and is more beneficial or fish than carbon can ever hope to be.

I guarantee you that nothing tragic will happen for the loss of activated carbon as long as you replace it with some material for the beneficial bacteria to live on instead. Infact, I would go as far to say that your water will be healthier and clearer without carbon and the use of other material, IME.

 

[freshmike]

what brand of filters do you use?

 

[smb]

what brand of filters do you use?

I have a 75g up and running right now and on that I use an Aquaclear 500 and a Emperor 400 for my Flowerhorn (I know it's a hybrid) and 3 Mbunas. A socolofi, albino zebra and lombardoi. Both turn my tank over the recommended rate of 4 times an hour. I don't recommend an AC 500 tho as a standalone HOB.

Once I go visit cichlidmaster in a few months and get my N. beanie it will be a canister and 2 Emperor 400's for my 75g. Once he gets bigger I'll move him to my 135g and will add another filter or sump. I love filtration! On top of that I do twice a week water changes in all my tanks to curtail the bioload. Water can never be too clean, imo.

I have a 29g set up with just a rtbs and an Emperor 400 set on the lowest setting.

 

[freshmike]

what brand of filters do you use?

I have a 75g up and running right now and on that I use an Aquaclear 500 and a Emperor 400 for my Flowerhorn (I know it's a hybrid) and 3 Mbunas. A socolofi, albino zebra and lombardoi. Both turn my tank over the recommended rate of 4 times an hour. I don't recommend an AC 500 tho as a standalone HOB.

Once I go visit cichlidmaster in a few months and get my N. beanie it will be a canister and 2 Emperor 400's for my 75g. Once he gets bigger I'll move him to my 135g and will add another filter or sump. I love filtration! On top of that I do twice a week water changes in all my tanks to curtail the bioload. Water can never be too clean, imo.

I have a 29g set up with just a rtbs and an Emperor 400 set on the lowest setting.

....so i have just filter foam in the filters.....is that ok?

 

[smb]

what brand of filters do you use?

I have a 75g up and running right now and on that I use an Aquaclear 500 and a Emperor 400 for my Flowerhorn (I know it's a hybrid) and 3 Mbunas. A socolofi, albino zebra and lombardoi. Both turn my tank over the recommended rate of 4 times an hour. I don't recommend an AC 500 tho as a standalone HOB.

Once I go visit cichlidmaster in a few months and get my N. beanie it will be a canister and 2 Emperor 400's for my 75g. Once he gets bigger I'll move him to my 135g and will add another filter or sump. I love filtration! On top of that I do twice a week water changes in all my tanks to curtail the bioload. Water can never be too clean, imo.

I have a 29g set up with just a rtbs and an Emperor 400 set on the lowest setting.

....so i have just filter foam in the filters.....is that ok?

Actually probably not, imo.

What type of filter? I find that most foam has larger pores and it's not the best of material for beneficial bacteria to congregate upon and colonize.

Not saying that it isn't the best, but ime, it's not as good in tests I've run years and years ago.

 

[Alien Anna]

I took all the carbon out of my filters a while back without any ill-effects.

 

[AdamsZoological]

Freshmike,
My tanks have been carbon free for more than 3 years now with no ill effects. I've actually found my tanks do better without it.

As smb already mentioned, regular water changes are the key.

 

[CFC]

Unless you change the carbon in a filter every 3 weeks or so it is useless anyway and can dump all the toxins it has removed back into the tank,it has a very limited lifespan.The only time i ever use carbon is after a course of treatment to remove any chemicals still present in the water,then it is only in the tank for 24 hours.

 

[guppymonkey]

So, what you are trying to say is that carbon filters are useless? Well I am going to stick to mine because I am new to keeping fish and anything I do to change my tank right now will probably end up being wrong and killing my fish. I will just keep changing my filter once a month.

 

[Alien Anna]

So, what you are trying to say is that carbon filters are useless?

Pretty much. It's hard to believe that so many people could promote something, at such a cost, that was actually useful about once a year to get methylene blue out of your tank (or whatever). But if you feel happier believing the PR it certainly won't hurt your fish. Could hurt your plants, OTOH, if they're alive.

 

[guppymonkey]

I am not saying that I truly believe the PR but I am not just going to take the filter carbon out. I use a power filter, how would you go about having one without carbon in the filter? The filters need to be changed because they get rather nasty. I probably should just stick to changing it every month because I would probably screw up and end up killing my fish with my own incompetence.

 

[smb]

I am not saying that I truly believe the PR but I am not just going to take the filter carbon out. I use a power filter, how would you go about having one without carbon in the filter? The filters need to be changed because they get rather nasty. I probably should just stick to changing it every month because I would probably screw up and end up killing my fish with my own incompetence.

I've never had a problem running w/o carbon. If you're worried about maintenance issues, running w/o carbon would be easier because you don't have to keep changing it. Most carbon only lasts 3-4 days, so running it a month means you're running w/o carbon anyways.
Carbon is known to take minerals out of the water that is a benefit to fish also.

I'd rather spend $2 for 2 years worth of filter floss that does a better job than buy $8 carbon every 4 days tho and worry about the carbon leaching when it's full.

It's up to you what you want to use and I don't care as long as you know the good and bad to base your decision on. That's all we're trying to do.

So, what you are trying to say is that carbon filters are useless?

Useless and expensive.

That and it's a gimmick the way it's advertised, imo. If you want to take meds out after treatment, then I can see.

 

[Jaws]

um? my 10 gal came with a filter... its the Primo PR1000 i think.. it said it came with a carbon filter, and if i shake it i can hear rocks, what i presume are the carbon pieces. i guess ive had my tank for about a year, and ive never changed the filer, just occasionally washed it when the water level gets high, before it overflows into the other chamber. smb- this floss that you talk about, can i use it in my cheapy filter?

 

[wuvmybetta]

I've been carbonless & using floss for a few months now & everything's fine. I use carbon on occasion ,when I add new driftwood or something like that. The worst thing about it, as others said, it leaches back into the tank after so long


Jaws, you've never changed your carbon? It just might be time for a new one, or the floss... as you mentioned. It should be fine with your filter