[Sheppard]

hey everyone

just got some blackwater extract and i want to use it, but i know that the carbon in my filter cartridges will filter it out within a day. so i want to take the carbon out of my filter so that i just have the ammo-chips in there. My filter is an Emperor 280.

how will i keep my tank clean and fitered without the carbon? i want to keep the blackwater extract in there.

thanks

 

[Fido]

Was carbon the only filter media in the emperor? sorry not too familiar with the emps.

 

[Sheppard]

no. there is also ammo-chips and a bio wheel

 

[Fido]

should be fine without charcoal. if thats all the media that emp holds, i would get an AC...holds a huge sponge.

 

[Sheppard]

is the huge sponge on the AC's just good for mechanical filteration or not?

 

[Fido]

Its good for BIO and Mechanical. I always thought those emps had a sponge in em before the biowheel. hmm. But the thing about ACs is you can add whatever filter media you want, because its a giant box. I like putting a big sponge, and then some floss above that. Some people but ammonia rocks or charcoal.

 

[Judazzz]

It's by no means necessary to use Carbon all the time - most people use it temporarily to remove tanins coming from a new piece of drift wood, or to remove medicine/chemicals after treatment. Once they reached their goal, they stop using it.

So there's no reason to be worried about stopping with using Carbon: just be sure you have enough biomedia for all the necessary bacteria, so the tank won't go through a (mini-) cycle.

 

[smithgrind_who]

Hey Sheppard, I have two filters with out carbon running on my 55 US gallon tank. The reason I don't use carbon is the fact that I have plants in my aquarium. The carbon will remove the trace elements needed by the plants.

 

[Sheppard]

alright, thanks guys

i am going to remove the carbon today and replace it with a filter pad as mechanical filteration, that should be fine.
Filo i like the sounds of those AC's maybe i'll pick one up today

thanks

SHEP