R
ronaldj
Guest
Will the addition of activated carbon to canister filter affect macro and micro nutrient levels in the water column? ( EI dosing with dry ferts)
Well... Yes, or, Well No, Okay, Maybe ... And That Is, Well, Definite
Hi,
I do not think there is consensus,
which is why you read both ways on activated charcoal and by extension zeolite, Purigen, Chemi-Pure and so forth.
My view is that planted tanks do not really need it; in fact, in a well-planted tank it seems counter-productive unless you have specific problems.
I know the high-priced-Japanese-fellow advocates using activated charcoal when starting the tank to help even things out, then leave the activated charcoal to become media for the biological filter. Seems reasonable.
Unless you want black-water tanks, high tannins and so forth, there really is no wrong answer as far as I can tell.
Biollante
Hi,
I do not think there is consensus,
which is why you read both ways on activated charcoal and by extension zeolite, Purigen, Chemi-Pure and so forth.My view is that planted tanks do not really need it; in fact, in a well-planted tank it seems counter-productive unless you have specific problems.
- I think it is good to have on hand.
I know the high-priced-Japanese-fellow advocates using activated charcoal when starting the tank to help even things out, then leave the activated charcoal to become media for the biological filter.
Seems reasonable.Unless you want black-water tanks, high tannins and so forth, there really is no wrong answer as far as I can tell.
Biollante
Without going into too much detail -- I use the PPS scheme, and I test regularly (LaMotte and Hanna).
I regularly use ChemiPure and GAC. This chemical filtration does effectively remove DOCs (phenols, etc) and I think the tank does better long-term with this chemical filtration than without it, especially as I do not do frequent large water changes. It will remove the hydroxylated aromatics (tannins and lignins and the like), so like Biollante says, if you're going for the blackwater chemistry, you don't want it.
I cannot see any effect of GAC or ChemiPure on the concentrations of any nutrients deliberately put into the tank. There is no immediate negative impact when I do a filter change. PPS and EI dosing regimes probably swamp any removal effects anyway. I can get fast reduction of iron chelate concentration with UV, but not with the chemical filtration; I've done that experiment. Potassium, phosphate, and nitrate are not apparently effected by CF. Chelated and complexed ions, or any organic molecule may be adsorbed, but not inorganics.
If you use EI, you are doing large regular water changes to reset the water column, so you might not gain any particular advantage from using CF, since DOCs cannot accumulate.
I regularly use ChemiPure and GAC. This chemical filtration does effectively remove DOCs (phenols, etc) and I think the tank does better long-term with this chemical filtration than without it, especially as I do not do frequent large water changes. It will remove the hydroxylated aromatics (tannins and lignins and the like), so like Biollante says, if you're going for the blackwater chemistry, you don't want it.
I cannot see any effect of GAC or ChemiPure on the concentrations of any nutrients deliberately put into the tank. There is no immediate negative impact when I do a filter change. PPS and EI dosing regimes probably swamp any removal effects anyway. I can get fast reduction of iron chelate concentration with UV, but not with the chemical filtration; I've done that experiment. Potassium, phosphate, and nitrate are not apparently effected by CF. Chelated and complexed ions, or any organic molecule may be adsorbed, but not inorganics.
If you use EI, you are doing large regular water changes to reset the water column, so you might not gain any particular advantage from using CF, since DOCs cannot accumulate.