Magnum 350 Pro carbon substitute

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I have 2 mag 350s pro's on a 125 gal with 2 oscars and pl*co. both
running bio wheels. I use the micron cartridge once and a while and
have been keeping carbon in my media container for the most part. I
have been reading and most ppl say that carbon shouldn't be used unless
to remove meds. What's a good substitute to use in the media
container, I've heard of foam or sponge. DO i still need to put the
blue filter sleeve around it if I do this. Or can I just run the
filter with an empty media containter with just the blue sleeve around
it. Any advice would be helpful thanks

[Charles]

On 20 Sep 2005 22:07:24 -0700, wrote:

>I have 2 mag 350s pro's on a 125 gal with 2 oscars and pl*co. both
>running bio wheels. I use the micron cartridge once and a while and
>have been keeping carbon in my media container for the most part. I
>have been reading and most ppl say that carbon shouldn't be used unless
>to remove meds. What's a good substitute to use in the media
>container, I've heard of foam or sponge. DO i still need to put the
>blue filter sleeve around it if I do this. Or can I just run the
>filter with an empty media containter with just the blue sleeve around
>it. Any advice would be helpful thanks


When I was going to do this, I decided that I would use the ceramic
media sold for Fluval or Eheim filters. I never did, though.

the blue sleeve will stop the big chunks, provide mechanical
filteration, and let the media inside the cage last longet.

[Mike]

Ive never heard of not using the carbon media??? Carbon is a good thing, it will reduce the risk of ammonia and such. I have always run magnums in all my tanks (129gallon, 30gallon(sal****er), 29gallon,20gallon) have never tooken the carbon out(i clean it though), all the tanks are in perfect shape... I dont see why you would want to take the carbon out it is probably one of the main parts of the magnum.

Mike
Mikes Fish Site


> wrote in message oups.com...
>I have 2 mag 350s pro's on a 125 gal with 2 oscars and pl*co. both
> running bio wheels. I use the micron cartridge once and a while and
> have been keeping carbon in my media container for the most part. I
> have been reading and most ppl say that carbon shouldn't be used unless
> to remove meds. What's a good substitute to use in the media
> container, I've heard of foam or sponge. DO i still need to put the
> blue filter sleeve around it if I do this. Or can I just run the
> filter with an empty media containter with just the blue sleeve around
> it. Any advice would be helpful thanks
>

[Elaine T]

Mike wrote:
> Ive never heard of not using the carbon media??? Carbon is a good thing,
> it will reduce the risk of ammonia and such. I have always run magnums
> in all my tanks (129gallon, 30gallon(sal****er), 29gallon,20gallon) have
> never tooken the carbon out(i clean it though), all the tanks are in
> perfect shape... I dont see why you would want to take the carbon out it
> is probably one of the main parts of the magnum.

Carbon has virtually nothing to do with ammonia unless you never replace
it and it becomes a bio media. Carbon actually removes many compounds
from the water that are desirable in planted and reef tanks. Fresh,
high quality carbon is good for fish-only tanks, but very few people use
enough carbon or replace it often enough for it to actually do anything.

Particularly in canister filters which are not cleaned frequently, extra
biological media is really nice. Good choices would be Eheim's
Ehfisubstrat (sp?), a sponge cut to size, or even a bag of carbon that
you never replace.

If you want chemical filtration for a fish-only tank that lasts a lot
longer than carbon, use something like Boyd's Chemi Pure. the resin in
it takes much longer to become saturated than carbon.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

[NetMax]

"Elaine T" > wrote in message
...
> Mike wrote:
>> Ive never heard of not using the carbon media??? Carbon is a good
>> thing, it will reduce the risk of ammonia and such. I have always run
>> magnums in all my tanks (129gallon, 30gallon(sal****er),
>> 29gallon,20gallon) have never tooken the carbon out(i clean it
>> though), all the tanks are in perfect shape... I dont see why you
>> would want to take the carbon out it is probably one of the main parts
>> of the magnum.
>
> Carbon has virtually nothing to do with ammonia unless you never
> replace it and it becomes a bio media. Carbon actually removes many
> compounds from the water that are desirable in planted and reef tanks.
> Fresh, high quality carbon is good for fish-only tanks, but very few
> people use enough carbon or replace it often enough for it to actually
> do anything.
>
> Particularly in canister filters which are not cleaned frequently,
> extra biological media is really nice. Good choices would be Eheim's
> Ehfisubstrat (sp?), a sponge cut to size, or even a bag of carbon that
> you never replace.
>
> If you want chemical filtration for a fish-only tank that lasts a lot
> longer than carbon, use something like Boyd's Chemi Pure. the resin in
> it takes much longer to become saturated than carbon.
>
> --
> Elaine T __
> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
> rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

I'm in complete agreement with Elaine's comments. Other options are
higher grade carbons:
http://www.calgoncarbon.com/
and I stumbled across this today:
http://www.kdfft.com/products.htm
--
www.NetMax.tk