Interesting excerpt from George Farmer

[Jeff]

From his book 'Aquascaping', regarding activated carbon. 
 

Take it for what it's worth, but I thought carbon in a planted tank was a big no. 
 

It's why I love this hobby....always learning. 

[Beau Burkhalter]

I wonder if there is a list of what all carbon does remove. I though carbon would remove liquid ferts too

[HH Morant]

I would have more faith if he used "affect" and "effect" correctly.

[813aquatics]

For me, I think it’s more that carbon media very quickly loses its “effectiveness” and ultimately I’ve run all my tanks long enough without it and have experienced no observable cons. I started raising fish in 98 and back then carbon media was all that was readily available in the retail scene.

[Colu]

I stopped use carbon in my tanks I just use it to remove medication after treating and then remove it I haven't noticed any difference it just a waste of money 

[Guppysnail]

I never use carbon or anything other than sponge 20-30-40 ppi. My plants do amazing and my fish are happy and very prolific. Thats good enough for me. I reserve carbon for if i have to remove a specific something quick that need more than water changes ie possible contamination 

[Patrick_G]

I’ve learned a ton from George’s book and his videos but I’m a little confused about this claim. Since Carbon is used in drinking water systems to remove chlorine and chemical impurities it’s reasonable to assume it would also remove some at least some of the chemicals used as aquarium fertilizer. 

[Jeff]

@Patrick_G I'm with you regarding the confusion when I first read it. However, after reading it again, and thinking about it more... I don't think he's disputing that it removes chemicals from fertilizers. From what I'm gathering from this, the nutrients left from what carbon doesn't remove...still helps plant growth. 

Carbon obviously isn't needed in a planted tank. He's just saying that if you'd like your water clearer, using activated carbon won't hurt your plant growth.

 

 

 

[Odd Duck]

I think it’s also important to remember that he doses ferts daily, if I remember right.  So any effect from the carbon adsorbing (yes, adsorbing, not absorbing) nutrients is going to be minimal with daily fert dosing so the affect on the plants will be minimal.  See what I did there @HH Morant?

[Tanked]

On 12/27/2021 at 7:47 AM, Odd Duck said:

I think it’s also important to remember that he doses ferts daily, if I remember right.  So any effect from the carbon adsorbing (yes, adsorbing, not absorbing) nutrients is going to be minimal with daily fert dosing so the affect on the plants will be minimal.  See what I did there @HH Morant?

You also taught me a new word!

[Bev C]

i stopped using carbon a long time ago ..in it place i use seachem  purigen make my tank look nice 

[Gator]

I stopped using carbon a long time ago by accident. Before I learned that raising my water temps to as close to 85 degrees as I could, would prevent diseases, I treated one of my tanks for a disease. Of course, the directions for treatment said to remove the carbon and I did, but I wondered what would happen if I didn't put the carbon back in the filter. Would it harm the fish if they were exposed to the medication for a longer period of time? Would that longer exposure to the med make the med more effective? I never put the carbon back in the filter and the fish lived for quite some time afterward. 

Activated carbon will remove lead and mercury from water, so it would probably remove the iron from our liquid ferts, as for the other ferts, I'm not so sure.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!