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From: David Bloch[SMTP:ebloch at alpha1.curtin.edu.au]
Subject: Carbon
<I have had a bad experience with carbon a few years ago. A marine tank of
mine was steadily getting worse and worse. Everything really looked bad -
then I remembered I had never changed my activated carbon, since starting
the tank! When I removed the carbon the tank improved>
About a year ago I was having a problem with algae in a freshwater setup. I thought I would run a carbon filter (activated carbon changed every 3-4 days) for a while (I'd heard that it got rid of algae?). Anyhow my plants started going backwards at an a
mazing rate. After a fortnight the plants were really crook and no appreciable difference to the algae (probably 'cause the plants weren't absorbing as much nutrient?). I took the filter off the system and it took a while for the plants to get better (t
hey lost a lot of leaves).
Does anyone else have any experiences like this with carbon? I wonder if it was just my setup or whether the filter was actually removing something the plants required. How would a carbon filter affect CO2 levels for example?
For your thoughts,
Barry.