Salvatore

Just wondering what you all think. Is it better to run carbon in your filter or not??

isis

I have a carbon filter in my main tank and non-carbon filter in my hospital tank. Main reason for non-carbon in my hospital tank is because carbon neutralizes the meds that you add to water when treating a sick fish.

sgould

Not necessary, but if you do, be sure to change it regularly. I switched to Purigen awhile back because it is rechargeable, so I'm not constantly buying new.

Salvatore

Rechargeable How do you do that?? Yes, I know that it dilutes the meds. I found that out the hard way when I first started the hobby. To say the least I could not solve my ICH problem and all my fish died one by one. So, this was the reason for my post. I am terrified and paranoid by ICH!!! I like to use the carbon to help keep a happy water quality but I was also thinking that it might be good to have a hint of copper in my system so I can prevent an ich problem before it even occurs BUT will this stress out the fish Is it a bad idea. I hope someone with a lot of salt water experience reads this and tells me what they think. I do not have any inverts or corals so I did not think it would really be that bad?

lilFishyfish

I use carbon filters in two of my tanks. I personally like them!

sgould

If ich is the concern, you'd be much better off addressing sources of stress to your fish than maintaining a permanent copper pressence in the system. Good water quality, varied diet, and aquascaping appropriate to the species of fish you keep (ie - hiding places, etc) will help keep stress down, which will keep them less suseptible to ich outbreaks. Fish can tolerate copper better than inverts, but in high enough concentrations it can still be deadly.

The purigen is regenerated by soaking it for 24 hours in a solution of 1 part bleach to 1 part water, followed by soaking for 8 hours in a solution of water and dechlorinator (Prime is recommended). Here is some info on it: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...fm?pcatid=4190

Salvatore

Thanks for that. I might just look into it. I did not know there was such a thing.

cpk

Carbon does not solve disease.It removes meds I personally like it just like lilfish does It does not have a negative effect IMO.Ich etc needs to be addressed in a case by case CSI ha ha

Tumbleweed

Carbon is used to remove impurities from your water. There is no reason why you wouldn't run carbon in your system. It helps keep the water quality higher.

pinkfloydpuffer

I only use it when I need to remove meds from the tank, but otherwise I don't bother.

Shawnie

I run carbon in my overstocked tanks..it allows me to skip a day of water changes ..but I buy new carbon every 3 weeks..in my other tanks, I have no carbon..

nemo addict

if you have ich problems try gettin a small uv filter , do you have live rock you shouldnt dose with live rock in tank ,, use a hospital tank to treat ,, depending on size of the fish being treated i put pipes or a bit of dead rock i have for the fish to hide,rest

bdrou

Defiantly use carbon if you use city water!
Happy Holidays,
Bryce

au01st

I run carbon in my phosphate reactor. Phosban media on the bottom, then a sponge, and then the carbon media.

fishrule101

I use carbon in my power filter. The water is super clear.

Mike

Not sure how true it is nowadays but some brands of activated carbon have been reported by hobbyists to release phosphates in the past. I believe it depends on what the AC is made out of. If you have high powered lighting setups you may want to check your activated carbon source for phosphates.

agabr123

I personally only use carbon when I am trying to get medications out. Otherwise, it's just a mess. It needs to be changed regularly otherwise it starts to deteriorate back into your water.