Chemical or Non Chemical filtration

[mediamonster]

When I started the hobby I was spending a lot of money on filters and chemicals for my aquariums. First two filters where HOB and my third was an awesome Rena XP3 (great filter but that is another topic), fourth and fifth are Cascade 700 (Also seem to be good). I was using Charcoal and other NitaZorb and chemical filter materials to get my water clear. I then began testing the water for ammonia and PH and ammonia was always very low and ph seem stable (which as i understand is ok as long as it stable it can be low). I was getting tired of the cost of filters 1-2 a month on the HOB and 1 every month and a half on the XP3 (at this point i did not have the Cascades). So i started to do a lot of reading about Charcoal and Activated Carbon and so on. What i got from it was that Activated Carbon was the old way of removing the additives that water treatment plants put in for us (humans). So i did and little test, still testing water quality i slowly removed all chemical filtration material i was using. The only thing i still use is the dechlorination chemical i get at the pet store (although i believe for my 46 gallon even this is not necessary as i put the water in plastic jugs in the same room as the aquarium for a few days and the clorine shoud be evaporated by that point). I still plan on using it as i believe it also helps with Floride as well.

I would like to hear other peoples input on this topic.

PS. 46 gallon running only foam and batting for 4 months now water quality is good and no one has died. 150 gallon 2 months with just foam and batting and everything there seems good too.

[Brhino]

most people agree that carbon is not needed in a well-maintained aquarium unless you're specifically trying to remove something (medication, tannins from driftwood, etc).

One thing on the "do I need chlorine remover" thought line, though: Many districts are now adding chloramine to the water. Unlike chlorine, chloramine does not dissipate over time, so your idea of just leaving the water out for a few days will not work if you have chloramine. you may or may not, depending on where you get your water. If you do, you definitely need to treat the water with something that removes it.

[Taurus]

Make sure you keep up with your water changes if you do not use activated carbon as phenols (acids), perihormons, and other dissolved organic solids that can't be measured still accumulate in the tank.

I do not use AC myself, but I am on a twice weekly 30 - 50 % water change schedule. I have used the space vacated by AC in my filters for more biomedia. It depends on how heavily your tank is stocked, whether it's planted or not, and how you feed that will determine a water change schedule for you to keep your tanks\fish healthy.

[Zilla]

I guess it depends on what the problems are within a tank.

I don't make a habit of using carbon, but I'll toss a bag in the filters for a week or so to rid the tank of any excess stuff that may be in there. While many will complain about how depriving my plants, they're green and healthy and I don't have algae issues so it can't be all bad.

Water changes are done weekly. It's always atleast once a week since I've upped the amount to 50%, but sometimes I'll do a smaller change towards the end of the week just because.

People that live in older homes that have copper piping should atleast test their water. If there are excessive amounts, stuff can be and should be added to bring the levels down. There is of course the use of R/O water, but that isn't what this thread is about.

If somebody has high nitrates or ammonia coming out the tap, there are options for dealing with that as well. And so the list goes on. It's not a big deal although if there are no major issues, I don't see the point of just adding stuff to a filter simply because it's sitting on a store shelf.

[Rhaethe]

The water in my area is treated with chloramine as well as chlorine. Sometimes enough of both that you can smell it.

That being the case, I always use Prime when doing a water change or seting up a new tank. Other than that, though, I don't use the activated charcoal thingies.

When I first set up a non planted tank, the only way I could get my water to have the same clarity as my planted tanks was to use the carbon ... then I ditched the carbon and got plants

[blubbyblub]

I agree, you have to watch out for chloramine. Know what is in your water!!! I swear our water company changes our water every 3 months just to mess with me, I have used tap water conditioner before, but not many other chemicals.

[tanks4thememories]

A good dechlorinator will break down chlorine/chlorimane in tap water. Chlorine is harmless once broken down but chlorimane once broken down will then release ammonia. In an established tank the ammonia will quickly be consumed by the nitrafying bacteria. So only in a tank that is Overstocked or being cycled do you actually need to worry about what happens when the ammonia in chlorimane is released. Products like Prime render the ammonia harmless for several days giving the nitrafying bacteria time to remove it before it is toxic to fish. This is useful in situations of overstocking. However if your tank is cycling,it most likely won't be any more ready for increaced ammonia in several days time than it was when you added the Prime so it has little value in such a situation.

Although I keep Prime on hand for situations where I need it to buy myself some time to deal with an ammonia emergency, I don't use it regularly. Instead I use the plain old concentrated dechlorinators like "API Tap Water Conditioner" (1 drop treats 1 gallon of chlorinated water) and I let my bio-filter take care of the resulting ammonia from breaking the chlorimane in my water. Just a note most test kits can not differentiate between different types of ammonia and will show ammonia in your tap water even if it is actually just detecting the ammonia in the chlorimane. The way to tell is if you test your tap water before and after dechlorination and it has the same ammonia levels then it was most likely showing the ammonia in the chlorimane.

I know it is considered "chemical" but when I think of Charcoal I think of Mechanical filtration because it actually absorbs the chemicals it removes from the water. This occurs when the undesirable molecules are trapped in the pores and outer surface of the carbon. It also must be changed often because adsorption is limited and it losses its fixation capacity after several days, as it becomes saturated. Once saturated, carbon may then release the molecules it had previously extracted back into the water column. The term "chemical filtration" is misleading because no chemical reactions actually take place..lol

Anyway because of what is mentioned above Like a lot of others have said. It really isn't necessary to use carbon unless you have something specific in mind to remove. If your water typically has none of the molecules that carbon is used to remove then there is no real need to use carbon. I often use it when I do my spring cleaning or sometimes on my monthly water changes and otherwise I don't use it.

To sum things up less is often more. You really only need the various grades of floss and sponges for most filtration. And if you really want to get advanced you can add some bio-balls or similar material to your filter (works best in canister filters not really much room for additions in HOB) this will further increase your bio-filtration capacity.

[kaybee]

...Once saturated, carbon may then release the molecules it had previously extracted back into the water column...

If this does occur, what prevents carbon from re-adsorbing leached molecules or toxins?

...if you do not use activated carbon as phenols (acids), perihormons, and other dissolved organic solids that can't be measured still accumulate in the tank...

One way to gauge the accumulation of dissolved organics in the tank is taking a length-wise view of the tank (that is to say viewing from the far left of the tank to the opposite side or vice versa), or affixing a white object such as an index card and view it length-wise as well. If disclarity is noticeable or if the index card appears less white than previously then more dissolved organics are in the water. You're correct that other substances in the water (phenols, fish produced growth-inhibiting hormones, etc) can't be measured. Water changes reduce those but they accumulate between water changes.

[tanks4thememories]

If this does occur, what prevents carbon from re-adsorbing leached molecules or toxins?

Well the key word here is as used "May". If the carbon is saturated then it means that all pores contain absorbed molecules, so if one comes loose then it is now one spot to put anything else into and it may or may not be the same molecule that came out..lol It is possible for undesirable molecules to come loose and the pore then get filled by minerals that are actually desirable, thus you now have undesirable molecules free.

[Sarkazmo]

There are tests you can get to test for Ammonia and Ammonia that's locked up. I think these are NH3 and NH4, but I'm not sure. Test kits like API's does not test for them individually so even though the Ammonia is rendered non-toxic, it'll still show on the tests.

The most important filtration in any tank is the Beneficial Bacteria that makes up the bio-filter. If this is healthy then the majority of issues will be taken care of.

Mechanical filtration is only going to remove particulate materials.

Chemical filtration is really only needed if the two above can't remove whatever it is.

Planted tanks are nearly impossible to use chemical filtration with as most chem filters will remove most of the stuff that the plants need to live and grow.

When you have water with animals and plants you're going to have dissolved organics in the water. Surface films of oils and organics can be reduced by using a lot of surface agitation then drawn into the filter and removed or broken down.

If you're not doing the planted tank thing then I'd advise using Seachem's Purigen. This media discolours with use and can be regenerated multiple times to restore it's effectiveness. Purigen is probably the best all around chemical filtration media that's available readily. If you're going to do chem, this is the way to go.

Sark