To Carbon Or Not To Carbon....age Old Question

[julielynn47]

Okay, I know this has been gone over and over, but I don't understand why some people swear by it and others think it unnecessary.  
 
I have always used the carbon because that is how my filter came and it just seems like it is necessary. But then I read on forums that it is not necessary, it is a waste of money, it does nothing for the tank, does nothing for the fish, etc.
 
I know it is good for removing unwanted medications.  And it is supposed to clean the water nicely.
 
I took the carbon filter out of the 10 gallon as a test and put in filter floss in its place.  The water clarity was not the same with the filter floss. And this tank has no inhabitants as yet. I put the carbon filter back in and the water clarity was so much better.   So I would think the clarity of the water is vastly improved with the carbon in the filter.  
 
So the question is, I guess, how clear do you want your tank water?   (I mean aside from removing medications)  And maybe it is just hard to unwrap ones mind around the actual need for a carbon filter.  Once your mind has be set on something it is often very difficult to change that mind set. 
 
It is getting costly, didn't realize how costly, to change out the carbon packs in my 55 gallon. The price has gone up so much on those things.  I am considering the use of thickly packed filter floss over the carbon when I do a change of the filter.  
 
I got to thinking that if the carbon "runs out" of whatever good it does at the end of a month, then just exactly what is it doing for me that will be better than just filter floss. In essence it is burned out and is not nothing more than filter floss, grabbing things out of the water and not letting them back in the tank....correct me if I am wrong on that... I am really trying to wrap my mind around that whole " you don't need carbon " idea.
 
So, opinions please, all opinions welcome, yay or nay, and if possible the "why" of your yay or nay.
 
Thanks!

 

[AbbeysDad]

Activated carbon is excellent at adsorbing a wide range of impurities in water. I can be very beneficial in some tanks, especially unplanted tanks. However, it's 'use life' is short, it can be a bit pricey, and some would argue that it is not absolutely necessary.
You surely don't want activated carbon used in a planted tank as it would strip elements the plants need.
 
Also, you might compensate for not using chemical filtration like carbon by simply stepping up your volume and/or frequency of partial water changes as FRESH water is even better than activated carbon filtered water!

 

[julielynn47]

I needed to change out the carbon filters today, and so I just took them out and put in the bio floss pads that work with the canister filter that will service the 75 gallon.  I have a ton of them, and figured that was easier than cutting the other bio floss on a roll.   I will see how it works out.   After the carbon is used up what do you really have anyway except a piece of floss stuff covering the  carbon?  So I am giving it a go.  I will see how it works for me.  
 
I figure I can rinse it off, like I do my biological media, put it back in and have even more bio material 

 

[Byron]

Michael has succinctly summarized the issue.  I don't bother with activated carbon, and haven't for years.  I have plants in all my tanks, and I can't see the logic in removing naturally-occurring nutrients they can use.
 
Activated carbon adsorbs (not absorbs) organic substances dissolved in the water.  It does this by adsorption, which means simply that the chemicals stick to the carbon.  At some point the carbon will become full, and adsorption ceases.  At that point it will function as any biological media but nothing more.  Some suggest that it can leech back what it has adsorbed if left past its effective period, and I have read others who disagree; I don't use it, so I don't really care.
 
Organic substances like phenols, tannins, dissolved organic compounds, etc. are removed.  Inorganics like ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are not removed.  It will remove chlorine, medications, etc, to some degree.  Since it retains these on its surfaces, the effectiveness depends upon the level of these substances and the amount of carbon.  Bacteria will also colonize carbon, and this can hinder the adsorption which is why when used carbon is the last media the filtered water should pass through.
 
Aside from removing harmful chemicals like the medications, I cannot personally see a benefit.  It becomes expensive, and it is basically performing tasks that regular water changes, good maintence, and live plants can do and frankly do better in my view.

 

[julielynn47]

I have not ever NOT used it until now.  It has, as you point out, gotten expensive.  And I got to really looking at the carbon filter pack and all it really is, is a small amount of carbon, a very small amount, with a thin sheet of fiber holding it all in.
 
 I started thinking that if I have no meds in the water, and I don't, then what exactly am I removing?  I do think that they clean the water nicely, but only until they get dirty themselves.  And I do water changes a lot.  After almost every water change I run my diatom filter for a few hours to clear and clean up any debris floating around and making it look not so pretty.  
 
So this time I just used the floss pads that I have for the canister, they fit right in, and I will rinse them and let them be just another bio media for the tank.  I have some media floss on a roll, and it is more dense. So I think I will cut some of that and add it the filter housing as well. The canister media is larger pored.

 

[julielynn47]

I went to rinse out the floss media that I used in the place of the carbon media....it was not a pretty site. I tried to wash it out and just gave up and replaced it. I don't understand how anyone could leave that in there even after rinsing it out. It was awful. I just couldn't do it. I kept telling myself that it had beneficial bacteria on it, but I could not get past how it had turned brown with so much yuck that I just could not put it back in. I got new pieces.

On the up side I guess that means it is working to get things out of the water...

 

[Byron]

I went to rinse out the floss media that I used in the place of the carbon media....it was not a pretty site. I tried to wash it out and just gave up and replaced it. I don't understand how anyone could leave that in there even after rinsing it out. It was awful. I just couldn't do it. I kept telling myself that it had beneficial bacteria on it, but I could not get past how it had turned brown with so much yuck that I just could not put it back in. I got new pieces.

On the up side I guess that means it is working to get things out of the water...

I always throw out the white fine "polishing" pad in my canisters when I clean them, which now is every month. Trying to clean these is as you've discovered almost impossible. When I used to try, the rinsing took so much out of the pad that it lost its shape, was thin in spots, didn't fit well...in short, useless for what it is there to do.

There will not be any issue with nitrifying bacteria; they will be all over the place in the media. I rinse my filters under the tap, and always have done for 20+ years. I have had professional biologists tell me there is nothing dangerous in doing this. These autotrophic bacteria will not all disappear. They can however be literally suffocated if the other forms of bacteria, the heterotrophs, rapidly increase as they will in a dirty filter.

Byron.

 

[julielynn47]

I thought rinsing under tap would kill the bacteria so I always use treated water. But yeah, it was awful. I just could not make myself put that stuff back in. I sure was hoping that they would rinse better than that.

 

[NickAu]

I only use sponge and sintered glass in my filters no polishing pads.

 

[julielynn47]

Is sintered glass like the little round bio glass spheres? I have those in the filter as well

 

[NickAu]

Hi
BIOHOME Filter Media | Genesis Group International

 

[julielynn47]

That is very interesting.