What does activated carbon really do in my fish tank?

Question

What does activated carbon really do in my fish tank? Ups and downs? Is it necessary?

I also heard you can put zeolite into your tank. It will supposely absorb ammonia. What do you guys think? Anybody used it? Any significant effects on water quality?

Answer 1

I'll tackle the zeolite question first. Yes, it does absorb ammonia, but if your tank is cycled and you aren't overstocked and/or you don't overfeed your fish, the beneficial bacteria should remove all the ammonia created by converting it to nitrite and nitrate, so this shoudn't really be necessary. If your tank is cycling, you want to allow a small amount of ammonia to be present - if it's not there for the bacteria to use, you won't build up enough of a bacterial population to handle the wastes your fish will produce.

As far as the carbon, it adsorbs a number of chemicals, including some that are good as well as bad. The major reason for using it is to remove medications that are used in the tank. It will also remove small amounts of dyes, discoloration from tannins leached from wood, and some odors. It's used in some specialized tanks for removing toxins produced by corals (also some fish species) in saltwater tanks. It can also remove some harmful metals in you tapwater (if these exist).

It's not necessary to use carbon on a daily basis, unless there's a specific reason you have for doing so (lessen water discoloration from driftwood, removal of metals from tapwater, etc.). In most cases, regular water changes will do just as much if not more to benefit your water quality. It's still good to keep some onhand, however, for emergencies (someone sprays a chemical in the room and some accidently gets in the tank).

Answer 2

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What does activated carbon really do in my fish tank?
What does activated carbon really do in my fish tank? Ups and downs? Is it necessary?

I also heard you can put zeolite into your tank. It will supposely absorb ammonia. What do you guys think? Anybody used it? Any significant effects on water quality?

Answer 3

Activated Carbon is a chemical filter, It has thousands of tiny pores that absorb bad chemicals in the water. It is also good for removing the "tea" colour that comes with buying new driftwood. For best effectiveness, they need to be in a fast current of water such as a filter.

Zeolite does in fact absorb ammonia, however I am against it. Good bacteria in your filter feed off ammonia and if they don't get any, then eventually your tank will start to cycle again (go cloudy white). Just do fortnightly water changes and clean your filters regulary.

Answer 4

Carbon absorbs pollutants in the water.
Zeolite does absorb ammonia but it is for emergencies and is not for general use. Never use it more than 3 weeks. It can not be used in a tank with salt. It exchanges ammonia for salt so if you change water and add more salt and do not replace your zeolite it will leech out every bit of ammonia it has absorbed all at once. It also locks up ammonia and stalls out the cycling process, making it take much longer to cycle the aquarium. I personally wouldn't use it. What it is good for is if you have a new tank and the ammonia gets high and you cannot change water, you put it in until you can do a water change, then take it out. Nothing does better to rid the tank of ammonia or nitrites like a water change. An ammonia dump from zeolite can reach toxic levels overnight, putting your fish in shock or dead. I encourage you to follow up on me with your own research on both carbon and zeolite.

Answer 5

Ditto to Athelon. Your activated carbon, while you will find those that say you don't really need it, removes most chemical impurities in your water, such as some heavy metals that are in ion form. It does nothing for your ammonia and nitrite, that is what your biological filtration is for, and just like they said, DON'T USE THIS STUFF.

Most of these things that come out, to absorb or bind up ammonia really do nothing beneficial to you, other then mask the real problem. It's like taking morphine for this 4 inch gash in your chest. You don't feel it, but that didn't fix the problem. The problem with this zeolite stuff is that absorbing your ammonia, you starve off your benefical bacteria. It's not worth it to employ it in the first place.

There really isnt any downs to using your activated carbon, that I can think of, other then replacing it monthly, which is not extremely expensive nor time consuming.

JV

Answer 6

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you know when i put a big piece of driftwood in my tank it coloured my water for a few months ... i had a sponge filter in the tank (tank was only for shrimp) and i added a power filter with carbon ... it really did not make much of a difference ... regular water changes is what cleared it up ... but most filters have carbon in the cartridge, does yours not ??? if it doesn't you can get the carbon from fish store, rinse some off and put in your filter, there should be some room in there to put it in ...

Answer 7

Activated carbon is used as a filter, not only in fish tanks but in other applications as well.

Answer 8

Activated carbon for your tank may, depending upon the amount you use and the offending odor. It was actually recommended for Katrina evacuees before returning to their homes (*that they place an open box in every room or their house). However, if your cat box is really bothering you, you may be better suited using baking soda mixed in with your litter, along with increasing how often you sift the litter and how often you replace the litter, especially if you have multiple cats.

Answer 9

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