No carbon? Why? Help/advice greatly appreciated!!

[Chazbot]

Ok, I've been reading about carbon filters and some people say they aren't necessary. That I can simply cut the carbon out of the cartridges and re-use them? Seriously?

I've read so much about this that I'm confusing myself! :help: Could someone please tell me -

First: Why is it better to NOT use carbon?

Second: Exactly what do I do to the cartridges that I'm currently using to get rid of the carbon and re-use them?

Third: My 29 gallon tank is cycled and happy. Will removing carbon affect water chemistry?

If carbon isn't necessary, then I'd rather not use it, and if there is a better way to filter my fishies' water that's also more economical - I'm all for it!

[Dave66]

Opinions pro and con carbon are as common as belly buttons; everyone has them. There's absolutely no reason to remove the carbon from your tank, since as you say is cycled and happy; if it ain't broke, for goodness sake don't fix it. Just replace the carbon every couple months so it'll remove dissolved organics at optimal levels.

Dave

[Gayle]

When you use meds you should take the carbon out.

[Northernguy]

Carbon is only needed to remove meds from the water after an illness,so does water changes.
Some swear by it and use it religiously.I have some tanks with it and some without.I like using it in tanks with a heavy bioload,big messy fish or a well stocked tank.I find it does help keep the water smelling better,so does water changes
I wouldn't reuse it after removing it from the filter.
Remove when using meds.

[Marty]

ok, i had similiar issues and here are my experiences...and in short :)

* Carbon is best used to remove medication and/or excessive pollutants but only for a short time, 2-3 weeks.
* I have been told (on here i think, and through websites) prolonged exposure to Carbon past its life span of 4 weeks can be harmful to the fish

* Don't remove the filters and replace with new cartridges that havent been exposed as you will have no good bacteria and will screw up your cycle. Instead, put a new cartridge behind the old one in your filter for a couple weeks to build up the bacteria first, and then replace
* rinse out the filter cartridges once every two weeks with the water taken during your weekly clean, and replace them.
* most people seem to replace their filter cartridge every 4 months

* I removed the carbon from my filters by cutting through the very bottom of one of the sides of the cartridge, and then fishing it out with my fingers and a spoon, and frequently sloshing it around in a small bucket of cycled tank water I pulled from the tank a few moments earlier
* a few tiny pieces are ok, so when i replaced that cartridge, i put some new fibre behind it also to build that up.

* To help keep your tank stable, get real plants - already a day after adding java moss and a water change, my high nitrates (80ppm) dropped in half!

erm, that is all i can think of off the top of my head for now :)

[Wild Turkey]

Use it or dont, nothing disastrous will come of it.

Most people choose not to use it all the time, since

- It costs money

- Removes a lot of stuff from the tank, including stuff thats good for plants, and of course anything that it can remove wont be in there at all if you run it constantly.

Dont use it when you use medications, for this reason.

"Leeching" toxins back into the water is debated. The conclusion ive slowly come to is that its not a huge threat, but becomes more of a threat the longer you leave carbon thats no longer active in the tank.

Carbon is only active for around a month.

If you want to stop using carbon, yes take out the pouch, tear or cut it open and rinse it in used tank water and return it to the filter, you will probably have room to add more media as well. If you want to remove the pouch later you can, but wait a few weeks or even better, cut it in half and remove one half at a time over the period of a few weeks. The pouch contains beneficial bacteria (a huge portion of it if its the only media in the filter) and removing it all at once and discarding it will cause a mini cycle.

[fishbum]

Carbon is only needed to remove meds from the water after an illness,so does water changes.
Some swear by it and use it religiously.I have some tanks with it and some without.I like using it in tanks with a heavy bio load,big messy fish or a well stocked tank.I find it does help keep the water smelling better,so does water changes
I wouldn't reuse it after removing it from the filter.
Remove when using meds.
I couldn't have said it better.I only use it in my tanks with large fish,or tanks that maybe a bit overstocked.I have more tanks without it,than with it.If you have a QT make sure you DO NOT use carbon in that if using meds,or remove it from your show tank if you are adding meds to it.Different tanks need different types of filtration.Biological is the most important.Mechanical,then chemical.I believe carbon is probably the most common type of chemical filtration,and there is nothing wrong with using it,or not using it.I think the biggest reason people don't use it,is the money you save.
What kind of filter do you have?A lot of times you can buy filter material in bulk for your mechanical filtration,and by not buying the pre-made cartridges with carbon in them,you save a ton of money that way.

[Chazbot]

Wow! Thanks so much for all the quick replies!

Fishbum, I'm using an Aqueon 30 and a TopFin 30 on my 29 gallon and an Aqueon 10 on the 10 gallon.