Why I Don't Use Activated Carbon In My Filters

[@mutt5450]

Much like you, I used to use carbon just because it came with the filter so it must be needed. False, haven’t had a need or want for it in years. It’s a band aid at best. Really do appreciate your simplistic, down to earth approach to this hobby. Thanks again.

[@lowstryder1022]

My thoughts exactly! Band-aid at best. Only useful in certain situations. If you want “natural”, which would always be most suitable, don’t use carbon. Bio-media is the most important thing at that point. If you have an aquarium, think of it more like an indoor version of an outdoor pond. Filtration shouldn’t be too much different. Only add carbon for a short while IFFFF there’s a problem!

[@Jen.K]

The number 1 benefit of using carbon, especially the kind that comes in replaceable cartridges, is the benefits it provides to the filter and parts company who are able to get ongoing repeat sales of the cartridges.

[@Ali-Muscle]

I use carbon . I like the thought of it removing impurities. I also don’t do water changes . I have 3 canister filters. I change one filter a month. Each individual one gets changed once every 90 days . I add fresh water and new carbon to the canister filter everytime I clean the filter and media. I also top off my tank with fresh water when my aquarium water evaporates down. I never over feed and I also have plants in my tank to help with water quality. I’ve been doing this method for decades. My tanks are crystal clear and I NEVER have a problem with fish sickness what so ever . 💜

[@matthew_thefallen]

good for you. Apparently the plants get enough nutrients before the activated carbon? I have no idea.

[@Shaden0040]

A fish tank should smell earthyy like a forest gloor after a nice rain, it shod never smell fishy, or swampy/marxhy, or like rotten eggs.

[@MichaelClark-uw7ex]

It should smell like a newly opened bag of good potting soil or a freshly tilled garden. Earthy and clean.

[@Shaden0040]

if you do use carbon, you do not have to buy tons of it. You can rejuventate active carbon by washing it down thouroughly, placing it on a baking metal pan and placing it in your over at 300F for 1-1.5 hours. This will help stretch the carbon's use time by about 4-5 times. Meaning you don't have to buy it as often and can reuse and recharge the carbon several times.

[@checkthefishbox8556]

Thanks good info

[@nikushim6665]

Rinse and baking it isn't exactly "rejuvenating" it. You might remove some particles by washing and drying it but to reactivate carbon will need to put it in a oxygen free environment and cook it off at around 600c (1100F). In general the stuff is dirt cheap, so not worth the effort (Activated carbon in it self is a recycled waste product).

[@sschario60]

Haven't used carbon filtration in my five years keeping mbuna. Thanks for sharing your reasons. 👍

[@LesDL69]

Thank for this I really needed it..I have a bunch of tannin and I know it’s good but I don’t like the look of it in my living room. One day I’ll have a room where I can have it but for now I’m trying to get rid of it. New to all this. Thank for the info!!

[@MichaelClark-uw7ex]

I haven't used activated charcoal since I switched from brute force mechanical filtration to biological filtration in the mid 1970s. The main thing was that it can mask/hide serious problems that you can easily see and solve in a bio filtered system. My main show tank has absolutely no mechanical filtration unless you count the corner Matten foam, and that is mainly to hide the heater and pumps to the dry/wet trickle filter/sump and prevents fish/shrimp from getting sucked into the pumps. my Discus and Angels are fine with it, in fact they are constantly trying to breed.

[@cupidgaming8062]

Please do a full vid on how to setup a planted tank. Maybe use a small fish tank to show us or as your setting up a new planted tank

[@45kittyboo]

Thank you for this information

[@kandukurumahesh3609]

Look at tank behind him... Fishes are floating in the air... Miracle🤣😂

[@Ali-Muscle]

Ya, you’re right! That’s crystal clear to the point it’s creepy .

[@TREEMEISTER.]

After watching this I decided to remove my carbon bag and put in another bag of filter media. One that has a very small amount of carbon mixed in with zeolite, along with the original bag of fluval media. This solved my persistent borderline 0 to .25 ammonia issue and freed up space in my HOB filter. Thank you very much! I’m tempted to try egg shells to buffer my ph now because it keeps crashing, and I just found your video on that.

[@jonisolis9645]

Pretty tank! Nice setup!

[@קרןחיון-ו1ש]

as always, wonderful!!!!

[@davidsamsell2031]

I agree with the phrase "tank personality". Everyone has a different approach in fish keeping. Believe I used carbon filtration, once, lol. IMO, the aquariums seem much more natural without it, in my personal style of fish keeping. You mentioned "fishy smells" & thankfully my tanks never had that. We have aquariums actually throughout the house, including 3 tanks in a small bedroom, with no issues of any smells. 👃😤😝. I just do regular maintenance & let nature do the rest, etc. Good video. 👍📺😎

[@MichaelClark-uw7ex]

Exactly, well balanced aquarium have little odor and what smell there is should be Earthy like soil or a forest. If it smells strong or bad then there is something wrong.

[@warrenb9414]

Agree, the only reason I would use carbon would be to remove meds. Keep up the good work.

[@gasbike100mpg]

i've used carbon to detox the tank after contamination with chemicals (by accident, .i.e. fragrance/soap/oil/cleaners on hands). this happens during water changes when i put hands in tank to move stuff, and forgot to washup up etc. This is why i do not recommend water changes late at night when you are tired, we forget what we are doing. so after a water change and you see a fish or two die within the hour, time to do a 90 percent water change and break out he carbon. thanks.

[@cupidgaming8062]

Gosh I love this dude he's such a character😌

[@randomaxeofkindness1783]

great advice thank u

[@dirtyoldfarmhand3]

Wonderful.

[@rskid365]

Once I learned what carbon did, I quickly swapped to sponges and ceramic media for economical purposes as well as plant growth when I did have a planted tank. I only use carbon now to remove medicine from a tank. Not sure where I stand on HITH with carbon but thats what initially scared me off. Do I believe it's linked to hith now? No I don't. I have read the article on sturgeon and carbon and do not believe it pertains to my fish. I do not have a reason to run carbon however and I have proof it is not needed. Just like you said a tank should smell like a good earthy pond water. Good video especially for newcomers go the hobby. May not be scientific but experiences and open ended questions help people do their own research and let them know what's up in the real world. Great video Dan

[@christopherruiz9514]

What about for a red eared slider turtle tank would you recommend activated carbon ?

[@DanHiteshew-oneandonly]

I don't have any experience with turtles, but I don't see why carbon would be necessary.

[@MN3DAuto]

Hey Dan,i have question, i have 75gl freshwater tank in which i have couple anubias plants and some of their leaves turning tellow and others curling, i have been toldby LFS that i should use some liquid fertilizers (Fe,and Calcium), it is already 6days i use 10ml Fe and 5ml cal but there is no any improvement, the problem i think is because of Activated Carbon in canister filter, should i remove activated carbon

[@DanHiteshew-oneandonly]

Not sure if the carbon is having an impact, but I'd remove it. I don't use carbon in my tanks. Yellowing leaves could mean it needs more nitrogen. Are the nitrates in your tank above 20 ppm?

[@HisValor]

Is it possible that carbon could harm fish? I added a little carbon and a nano filter in a 10 gallon tank, three of my fish died. The carbon was the only thing I did different in this tank that didn’t have it before

[@DanHiteshew-oneandonly]

Did you rinse it first? I think the carbon dust may irritate their gills.

[@HisValor]

@@DanHiteshew-oneandonly yes I did , and only one survived

[@saiaquarium5945]

👍👍👍 thanks for sharing

[@na1du]

Do you have any slow-moving plenum tanks?

[@DanHiteshew-oneandonly]

No, I don't think so.

[@1domcouk]

Yup. You've certainly lost weight. Would you put Purigen in the same bracket as carbon? I believe Purigen, apart from being a water polisher removes nitrogenous matter from the water. Never knew about hole in the head and carbon + carbon removes elements plants need. Great vid.

[@DanHiteshew-oneandonly]

I don't bother with Purigen either. I just do a water change to remove nitrate.

[@jjk2one]

Carbon can be anything. It can be reclaimed tail mine waste.

[@petercsigo3314]

​@jjk2one It could be your brain don't work properly.

[@BigVtheVanity]

Did you loosing some weight? I'm not gay or anything, just want to let you know that you looking good. You look sharp.

[@DanHiteshew-oneandonly]

About 35 pounds so far. Thanks for noticing.

[@BigVtheVanity]

@@DanHiteshew-oneandonly 35 lbs., nice. Keep it up sir.

[@dylancrouch273]

@@DanHiteshew-oneandonly hell yeah man

[@anahbopp]

Dan I recently heard someone say that weekly water changes are bad for your tank, and we should be waiting longer .. what are your thoughts?

[@DanHiteshew-oneandonly]

It depends on the tank, but I can't think of a time where weekly water changes are "bad". It may not be necessary, but I don't think it is "bad".

[@gregorydubya]

I think weekly 10% water changes are beneficial, because it keeps things from spiking on you. Planted tanks can go longer without water changes, but the water changes still help to replenish trace minerals the plants need. You could do 20% every 2 weeks to the same effect. The biggest issue I've seen is not from the frequency, but the amount of water being replaced. When you start replacing over 40% of the water at a time, you risk crashing your biome, and forcing a new tank cycle. That's why they say to always rinse you filter media in the old water only, so you only get rid of the big particles and don't loose too much beneficial bacteria.

[@tommypham1101]

Does Activated carbon affact PH?

[@DanHiteshew-oneandonly]

No, it shouldn't.

[@hitmanskid-td4pg]

it does cause it affects carbon and sucks co2

[@j.t.cooper2963]

Why I use activated carbon in my filters....... Because I feel like it and so I use it.

[@randomtube8226]

In my opinion, activated charcoal carbon is a waste of money. It offers little to no results when problem solving. Spending more money on water conditioners for water changes is the way to go.

[@patrickandkennafenwick3958]

Activated carbon is not to filter particulates. It’s to remove DISSOLVED things like ammonia, chlorine etc

[@DanHiteshew-oneandonly]

It does not remove ammonia or dissolved solids. Also won't remove fluoride, sodium, etc...

[@craigquinn8225]

definitely agree. I don't use carbon. actually don't like any chemicals other than water conditioner. and medicine when needed. most problems I have with my tank is always the light

[@charlessloop1552]

That is the first I have ever heard that it causes anything like home in the head If true I would love to understand that. I have done it both with and without carbon and then back to using it for me I think my tank looks cleaner and fish seem healthier but that could be i had sick fish and did a few things including adding carbon and got the results I wanted

[@deepakgurung3853]

Can we use charcoal instead?

[@DanHiteshew-oneandonly]

I don't think it's the same.

[@TripleJAquatics]

👍👍✌

[@dr7153]

carbon is the best biological media

[@DanHiteshew-oneandonly]

Carbon as biological media? I'll give that a pass, thanks.

[@aquariumaddickuk]

Did you mean to say k1?😂

[@flammableelmo4966]

u should never use it with planted tanks only reef tanks

[@ColossalSwordFormAndTechnique]

Only noobs use carbon and the store bought cartridges 🤣

[@gdorfxoxo9657]

I wish I knew what I know now when I started the hobby. I could've saved so much money, water and time lol and a few fish