Is A Carbon Filter Needed?

[minikarter]

Hi, I only have a small Arcadia Arc tank 35L, with a single betta and otto (i know.. he is going to a bigger tank and needs some friends...) .. for the moment I have a fluval U1 filter in there which works fine with a spraybar that i've made to fit it, but I'm thinking of going back to the original filter that came with the tank as with so few fish, I'm sure the smaller amount of filter material and flowrate could still easily stand up to the ammonia and nitrites being produced.

I've heard though somewhere that a carbon filter isnt really necessary?.. what perpose does the carbon serve? .. If it's something chemical I'd find it quite interesting if someone could fill me in with the detail..

This little filter I want to put in has a small bag of carbon as well as the foam. If I took the carbon out then it would be easier to fit in more of the media from the old filter and keep as much of the bacteria as possible.

Thanks in advance!

 

[loraxchick]

the purpose of carbon is to remove chemicals and organics for your water. it is not absolutely necessary to run carbon unless you are removing meds. actually, carbon loses its effectiveness rather quickly-far sooner then you would need to replace other filter media. best to skip the carbon and add some more floss or sponge to the new filter.

 

[waterdrop]

In your case it would be an excellent swap to remove the carbon and replace it with mature media (sponge, ceramics etc.) instead. Agree with lorax that carbon is primarily at its best as a chemical media. Besides the main use, removing meds, as mentioned, it is also good at removing tannins (yellow tea-like water from new wood) and at removing the occasional organic smell whose source can't be determined. Carbon is used up in about 3 days and ready to be removed and tossed.

The confusing thing for beginners is that, while not what its best at, carbon will also serve as a surface for the beneficial bacteria (practically everything will!) and so if a beginner unknowingly leaves a significant percentage of their filter as begin carbon during their initial cycling, then that carbon will represent a significant portion of their "cycled" media. This means that if the user subsequently decides to change out this carbon for a media better suited as a biomedia then it will best be done on a gradual "staged" basis. Small amounts of carbon would be removed and replaced with some sort of fresh biomedia, perhaps once every 2 weeks or once per month and eventually all the carbon would have been replaced.

From then on its good to just have carbon "on the shelf" ready to be used if needed but not regularly in the filter.

~~waterdrop~~