# Another Stupid Idea?



## Tarobot (Jun 27, 2010)

instead of using gravel, is it possible just to use those carbon rocks that comes in filterpads and carpet the bottom? i'll probably just stick to rocks with moss or horn-worts tied to it for plants. keep the filter on for water flow and that should be ok right?


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

this will not work. 

Some of the reasons are:
It will pull so many nutrients from the plants, it will take some time for it to finally become inert. by then you plants will be dead.

Some of that stuff floats, some of it sinks. 

If you want to get the black effect, try flourite black, or crushed lava rock.


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

katienaha said:


> this will not work.
> 
> Some of the reasons are:
> It will pull so many nutrients from the plants, it will take some time for it to finally become inert. by then you plants will be dead.
> ...


Eco-Complete is also a good black substrate to use.

Respectfully,

Stuart


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

if you dont need anything too fancy, i have some black gravel from my old setup sitting on my balcony i can donate to you for free (or for stems ), it was from my 37G


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## Tarobot (Jun 27, 2010)

haha thanks everyone, i have gravel laying around im just wondering about the practicality of it. if im using rootless plants and moss then rooting and nutrients won't be much of an issue right? would it harm the fish in anyway if i did do this?


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

it will still suck nutrients out of the water


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## Tarobot (Jun 27, 2010)

wouldnt all carbon do that if it's a part of the filtration, regardless of placement? so it's do-able if i run a plantless tank?


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

yup. but carbon doesnt have a place in a planted tank, unless you are using it to pull out a medication. otherwise, any ferts you put in your water gets filtered out by the carbon and are not available for the plants to use.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

carbon in a planted tank is a heated argument by many.

Against: 
1) it sucks all chemicals out of the water that are useful to planted tanks. 
2) It needs to be changed often to prevent chemicals and poisons leaching back into the water. More cleanup and cost in other words

For:
1) If you fertilize daily, or use a substrate thats enriched with nutrients (or root tabs), then carbon will not affect the plants. I assume EI dosing falls under this category of not being affected by carbon that much. 
2) Expended Activated carbon still has a massive surface area for nitrifying bacteria. Once "used up" it releases something to absorb something else, this is the leaching effect, and unless you medicated or used activated carbon to fix a water issue that was out of whack, the leaching effect is insignificant. Meaning you don't risk your tank's health.
3) Leaves your water crystal clear

So for the majority of the EI planted tank users, activated carbon comes down to the maintnence or added cost point of view. Amano himself uses activated carbon in his tanks and others recommend atleast every 2 or 3 months to toss a bag into the filter for a few weeks to help maintain water clarity.


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## DR1V3N (Apr 22, 2010)

Conclusion: it depends on your usage Ethan 

The crystal clear water that Neven mentioned sounds appealing.

What size tank were you thinking of putting this in just out of curiosity? 

I ask because it sounds like you collected an insane amount of filter pads to be able to carpet the bottom of a tank no..?

And if they happen to be used filter pads then the carbon is more than likely inert by now.


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## Tarobot (Jun 27, 2010)

was just thinking about the theory of it all, not going to put it into practice any time soon. thanks a lot for all the feedbacks!


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

You know what you could do? You could put some carbon in a vase, fill it with water and add a plant, see what happens. You might learn something useful that you could pass on to the rest of us, for or against. I'm not sure if carbon has anything in it that would be useful to plants, but who knows? I suggest a plant weight to hold the plant down, though.


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## taureandragon76 (Apr 21, 2010)

The use of carbon as a substrate doesn't really make much sense to me. A bag of black 3m sand or black gravel would cost about the same as it would to cover the bottom in carbon. I would think that for carbon to work properly it would have to be in the filter so the water is constantly running through it. If used as a substrate you would have to replace once a month or every couple months, carbon is only good for so long. Once the carbon has done it's job it starts to leech what it took out back into your water. The most effective place to use carbon is in the filter. I myself don't even touch the stuff. Weekly water changes keep your water nice and clear.


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## ncutler (Apr 26, 2010)

I won't use carbon for planted tank, especially since there's seachem's purigen which does a much more specific job of only removing organics and is regenerable. Though it is costly (make sure you also get "the bag", since other bags aren't fine enough)


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## Tarobot (Jun 27, 2010)

so in a planted tank a filter becomes only responsible for water movement then? if so then there's no reason to buy filter pads for hob filters ya?


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## Keri (Aug 2, 2010)

Will carbon not just "break down" eventually? Plus it will float, and be pushed around by a current.


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