Intrepidcub

I have no idea how to title this post . I have a marineland emperor filter and it has the removeable cartridge that you can fill with whatever you want. at this moment i took the original carbon filter and pulled the filter floss off and dumped the carbon and covered it in cut to shape filter floss stuff. and in the secondary cartridge i filled it up with the carbon that comes in the plastic jar. my questions is i need ot buy more carbon and wonder if i should buy the ammo-carb stuff it says on petco

Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Ammo-Carb activated carbon & ammonia-Removing Resin
Ammo-Carb is a unique blend of activated carbon and ammonia-removing resin. The activated carbon removes toxic organic waste, colors, and foul odors. The ammonia-removing resin removes ammonia produced from decaying fish waste and uneaten fish food and the ammonia in chloramine. phosphate free. For freshwater aquariums. Protect your fish--use Ammo-Carb. It's like a double filtration system in your aquarium.

Should i get this instead of plain carbon since i have shubunkins that im sure produce alot of ammonia?

sirdarksol

I'd save the ammonia resin stuff for emergencies (when the cycle fails on you). Frankly, I'm getting rid of my carbon, too, except for emergencies and pulling meds out of the water. I stuff some extra filter floss into the bags that I would normally put the carbon in. You can use these until they fall apart.
My suggestion (until I get the results completed on the "zero waterchange system" at least) is to just keep an eye on ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Once the tank cycles, you won't have any of the first two, and you've just got to do enough water changes to keep the last one at a decently low level.

soldieroffortune1974

I would agree with sirdarksol,except in the instance of a well planted aquarium. I agree that once it is cycled,you shouldn't have too much to worry about in the ammonia and nitrites;and the plants will take care of the nitrate levels. The plants once established,will take over the filtering process along with the natural nitrogen cycle. I don't use any type of carbon filtration in any of my aquariums,except the quarantine (to remove medications)

pepetj

Using or not activated charcoal is a matter of your personal opinion and judgment. I keep activated charcoal in all my tanks, except if:

a) 3 weeks go by and I don't have the replacement bag, the old one is removed and the tank stays without charcoal media (keep in mind in Santo Domingo sometimes LFS run out of stock for a good while). I have used cheap activated charcoal to refill some of my filters, but now I usually wait for the replacements to arrive.

b) My Angelfish tank, with peat filtration, besides keeping pH at 6.8, it provides the tea-colored water these fish love. If I place activated charcoal the tea-colored water is gone.

c) When using medication in the Hospital tank, since activated charcoal can reduce efficiency of chemicals diluted or suspended in the water column.

The main reasons I use activated charcoal: tank's water smell more "neutral" and looks "clear" whit it in the media.

All my tanks are planted. I guess charcoal helps there too.

Pepe
Santo Domingo