Noob Questions

[Sandman]

alright been surfing the boards and learned a ton about fish and tanks and such.

first question.
the water in my tank seems to evaporate fairly fast, got the top and everything
only 2holes in it are for the filter and heater.

2nd question.
got an aqua clear filter wiht the sponge carbon and the cork things.
been reading alot about how people take the carbon out.
do i need to do this?

 

[Behold]

check around under the tank on the cabinet for leaks. check the temp on the tank too.

As to carbon. if you have plants you need to remove it as it takes all the nutrient out of the tank and your plants suffer. otherwise its good at cleaning the water.

 

[Sandman]

check around under the tank on the cabinet for leaks. check the temp on the tank too.

As to carbon. if you have plants you need to remove it as it takes all the nutrient out of the tank and your plants suffer. otherwise its good at cleaning the water.

yea dont got any live plants at the moment
and i dont have any leaks, just spots on the wall from humidity

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Sandman,

With regard to evaporation, what temperature is your tank? Having it too hot would cause excess evaporation.

With regard to carbon in the filter, many filter manufacturers include carbon as a standard filter media. As behold said, if your tank is planted it needs to be removed, but yours isn't.

It will 'clean' the water for you but trouble is carbon becomes exhausted after 2 - 6 weeks. After this time, if its left in the filter, it may leach impurities back into the water, so it is important to replace it regularly. This is added expense to your hobby, and to be honest its not really required for day-to-day filtering of your tank.

I would recommend that you should remove it and replace it with some biological media. ie. more sponge or cork things.

Carbon won't remove anything from your water that a good water change routine won't. Its really just an added expense which isn't required (you can see why filter manufacturers advise that you should use it £££££). The only time i use carbon is to remove medication from the tank after treating sick fish.

Hope this helps you.

BTT

 

[Sandman]

Hi Sandman,

With regard to evaporation, what temperature is your tank? Having it too hot would cause excess evaporation.

With regard to carbon in the filter, many filter manufacturers include carbon as a standard filter media. As behold said, if your tank is planted it needs to be removed, but yours isn't.

It will 'clean' the water for you but trouble is carbon becomes exhausted after 2 - 6 weeks. After this time, if its left in the filter, it may leach impurities back into the water, so it is important to replace it regularly. This is added expense to your hobby, and to be honest its not really required for day-to-day filtering of your tank.

I would recommend that you should remove it and replace it with some biological media. ie. more sponge or cork things.

Carbon won't remove anything from your water that a good water change routine won't. Its really just an added expense which isn't required (you can see why filter manufacturers advise that you should use it £££££). The only time i use carbon is to remove medication from the tank after treating sick fish.

Hope this helps you.

BTT

thanks alot
and my tank is set at 24 celcius so 76fht

 

[Sandman]

i also have sand in my tank.
will it ever some what solidify?

 

[Behold]

i also have sand in my tank.
will it ever some what solidify?

Sand will compact over time but can be easily moved. plecs will keep the top layer loose.