When i recently bought my discus, i was told to take out the carbon in the filter, Firstly, what is it about carbon that you cant use it with discus, secondly is it sooo bad if you do bc one week after taking it out and puting my discus in , my fish tank became disgusting, it has dirt, i mean dirt not algae, all over the glass and everything in the tank, it just makes the tank look horrible, thirdly, if carbon is a problem does anyone have any suggestions on any substitues that i can use or how i can prevent this from getting so bad. i change the water about three times a week now at 50%, and i have a fluval 305 with two slots of biomedia on the bottom, two slots of cotton or floss in the middle and two slots of the aquaclear sponge on top, oh yeah i have a 55 gal tank, anyhelp will be greatly appreciated, thank you.
Whats wrong with Carbon?
- Thread starter Gooose
- Start date
When was the last time you cleaned your filter?? Removing carbon shouldn't cause that much of a problem with build up in the tank. . I'm leaning more toward a bypass problem in the filter either from the buckets not being aligned right or the sponges are clogged.
Of course over feeding and over stocking a tank can also be the cause. How large is you setup?
The carbon has been linked as a major cause of HTH in discus. For some reason they are more prone to getting it when kept in a tank with carbon. Most think it has to do with the carbon building up it's toxic levels due to it doing it's job then releasing them in the tank weakening the fish's immune system.
Of course over feeding and over stocking a tank can also be the cause. How large is you setup?
The carbon has been linked as a major cause of HTH in discus. For some reason they are more prone to getting it when kept in a tank with carbon. Most think it has to do with the carbon building up it's toxic levels due to it doing it's job then releasing them in the tank weakening the fish's immune system.
HITH is a matter of great debate as to wether it's nutritional - water based - vitamin based - or bacterial ....... bottom line is no-one really knows. Not surprised carbon has been flagged as a suspect - but the reasons for its effect are just a hazy.
The trouble with carbon is that it clogs very quickly - usualy at the surface of the bag (if indeed you use it in a bag). This causes the water to flow over the bag rather than through it, and at some point the surface of the bag will leach gunk back into the water flow. In my experience, after one week it's a liabilty (all relative but probably not far off the mark).
So - works great for a few days - then it's a menace (in any tank - not just discus)
Given the need for super clean water with discus - no - i'd avoid carbon unless you take it out after a few days and bin it. (Which kinda makes it more trouble than it's worth).
Just use filter floss, and change it regularily - it'll catch the gunk without giving it back again later
The trouble with carbon is that it clogs very quickly - usualy at the surface of the bag (if indeed you use it in a bag). This causes the water to flow over the bag rather than through it, and at some point the surface of the bag will leach gunk back into the water flow. In my experience, after one week it's a liabilty (all relative but probably not far off the mark).
So - works great for a few days - then it's a menace (in any tank - not just discus)
Given the need for super clean water with discus - no - i'd avoid carbon unless you take it out after a few days and bin it. (Which kinda makes it more trouble than it's worth).
Just use filter floss, and change it regularily - it'll catch the gunk without giving it back again later