Filter Fiber Instead of Carbon?

[xoolooxunny]

After all this carbon debate, my tank has only gotten more heavily planted. I started adding liquid fertilizer, so i didn't want to keep using carbon bc it would remove the trace elements from the water column, correct? Anyway, if I start filling the carbon section of my canister with filter fiber instead of carbon, and change it regularly along with water changes, does anyone think this will cause a problem?

[Drumachine09]

You dont have to even take out the filter fiber. It will be an extra means of bio-filtration. I think it will also house some beneficial bacteria. (correct me if im wrong)

[Chrona]

After all this carbon debate, my tank has only gotten more heavily planted. I started adding liquid fertilizer, so i didn't want to keep using carbon bc it would remove the trace elements from the water column, correct? Anyway, if I start filling the carbon section of my canister with filter fiber instead of carbon, and change it regularly along with water changes, does anyone think this will cause a problem?

Nope, I did exactly this (well, I have a HOB filter, so it was stuffing filter floss into the baggy.) What kind of plants do you have? More than a few plants in a tank will suck up the trace elements brought in via water changes pretty quickly, so you may want to consider a trace supplement like Flourish. I don't know what kind of liquid fert you refer to, so you may already be adding trace.

[Lady Hobbs]

Probably if you just use iron tabs and stick them down in the substrate it's all you really need.

I use floss, as well in my HOTB. It's not all equal tho. I hate WalMarts but love PetSmarts. You have to cut the stuff at PetSmart and it isn't so stringy.

[Fishguy2727]

What filter is it? I use Fluvals and fill the bottom tray with floss and fill the rest of the trays with Biomax. The floss will collect a lot of debris and therefore needs to be rinsed or replaced with filter cleanings. As the water goes through the filter it should go through course mechanical media, then fine mechanical (the floss), and then a biological media (Biomax or equivalent).

[Lady Hobbs]

What do you use, reptileguy, where the charcoal is supposed to go? Just more floss?

[xoolooxunny]

sorry it took awhile to get back to you guys. I use a magnum 350 filter. My tank is also WELL-planted, and i use flourite substrate along with flourish tabs that go in the substrate. The plants seem to be growing real well, especially my bar sword and my temple plants. I dont get algae on the leaves at all, so i guess I'm wondering if not using carbon will leave TOO many trace elements in the water? would that cause algae on the leaves?

[Chrona]

sorry it took awhile to get back to you guys. I use a magnum 350 filter. My tank is also WELL-planted, and i use flourite substrate along with flourish tabs that go in the substrate. The plants seem to be growing real well, especially my bar sword and my temple plants. I dont get algae on the leaves at all, so i guess I'm wondering if not using carbon will leave TOO many trace elements in the water? would that cause algae on the leaves?

Heres a good link to the causes of various types of algae:

http://rexgrigg.com/Algae1.html

Flourite, if it settled, does not leech trace into the water (if it does, it does so extremely slowly) Do you have any mosses or java fern? Or any other types of plants that draw primarily from the water column for nutrients? If not, then the flourish tabs + Flourite will work just fine. I have overdosed many times with trace and it does not seem to effect algae growth at all.

[xoolooxunny]

well, i have a chunk of java moss and a little i finally got crawling on some rocks.
My temple plants have tons of roots coming out of the stems into the water near the bottom of the tank. thanks for that link, helpful!