Carbon Cycling Question

[annika]

so i have a tropical aquarium with live plants & snails. It is fully cycled, and has been fully cycled since November! I have an aquaclear filter with the media it comes with (mechanical, carbon, and biological) i was wondering if i throw out the carbon packet and replace it with more biological/ mechanical media will it crash my cycle? I know carbon can be bad for the fish once it starts going old, but im afraid if i throw it out i will ruin my cycle! ( does beneficial bacteria even grow in the carbon packet? ) thank you in advance!!

 

[JamieXPXP]

beneficial bacteria will grow on any filter media. the cycle will be fine if you leave in the rest of the media

 

[Mike1995]

carbon isn't really bad if left in the filter, it just has a limit for its intended use which i think is a few weeks. If left in, it'll just be another piece of media for bacteria to live on.

 

[FishMich]

I have an Aquaclear filter as well. I took out the carbon and added another bag of biomax, never caused a blip. Beneficial bacteria kept charging on.