Active Carbon YES or NO??

Here is my straight and forward answer to the issue:

YES! You should use carbon for new set-ups in order to remove NH4 and color bodies (carbon loses its adsorption capacity after a couple days but it can be left in place as it soon becomes good biological filtration media).
Routinely CLEAN it like you'd do with other media. BTW rinsing bio media is always MOST important IMMEDIATELY after you've messed your tank!!!

YES! After medical treatment! Discard it soon after (couple hours).

NO! For long-term use as long as you routinely substitute part (or all) of it by fresh carbon.
Plant health will decline after introduction of fresh carbon typically during a time frame of 3 to 4 days reflecting its trace removing properties even if it is a small amount of fresh carbon relative to the water body and even with daily fertilization.
The burdon of proof? Well, many years of observation of plant health and using GAC.


Best regards,
Detlef

 

I use it once every 6months to get rid of any metals, and when setting up a new tank, apart from that, it takes out the nutrients plants use.

 

I recall from research at "the Krib" that iron lasts a very short time in an aquarium, before the plants take it up. As I recall, people were dosing iron, then measuring how much was in the water and getting near zero measurements. The "expert" opinion was that the plants didn't allow it to remain in the water more than minutes before it was consumed.

If that was correct, or at least if my memory is correct, that tells me that activated charcoal in a filter doesn't get much opportunity to remove chelated iron from the water before it is used up. The other chelated metals in trace mixes may linger longer, and be removed by the AC.

Is this correct?

 

yes, i have also heard this too, on another site.

 

As far as I can tell even without using carbon iron drops out of solution within 4 to 7 hrs after dosing due to plant uptake, oxidation or precipitation (Testkit Dupla-Fe).

Regards,
Detlef

 

I posted a little while back about a sudden deficiency in my hygro with new growth having leaf tips and pieces missing, almost like it was being eaten (but it wasn't). Traces were pointed to as the possible issue. Anyway, since then I suddenly realized that the deficiency showed up within a day or two of my adding activated carbon to the filtration, which I don't usually use at all.

 

When i have any plant queries i always use sites like Barr Report & UKAPS, you cant beat the advice with the people on them, they know there stuff and you know that there advice will be good .