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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Activated charcoal

  • stretnik (stretnik)
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12 Jun 2010 13:29 #1 by stretnik (stretnik)
Activated charcoal was created by stretnik (stretnik)
Hi peeps,

Can anyone tell me if Activated Charcoal strips any nutrient added to a planted tank?

Kev.

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12 Jun 2010 18:48 #2 by Dioza (Adam Bell)
I can't say for certain but any time i use it i notice a browning of my leaves a while later. I rarely use it, just lately with the sunny weather when doing water changes i forget i have sun cream on, so last time i whacked in some carbon afterwards just to hopefully absorb any ill effects. Typical, i remember when the jobs done and i'm washing my hands :blush:

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  • wolfsburg (wolfsburg)
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12 Jun 2010 19:13 - 12 Jun 2010 19:16 #3 by wolfsburg (wolfsburg)
Replied by wolfsburg (wolfsburg) on topic Re:Activated charcoal
I think it does effect plants Kev. I won some in a raffle at the fish show so I popped some into the external. Ever since then my Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Tropica' has thinned out considerably. Might be coincidence though... cryptos are very sensitive to changes in parameters which might have been brought on by the carbon.
Last edit: 12 Jun 2010 19:16 by wolfsburg (wolfsburg).

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12 Jun 2010 20:44 #4 by NosIreland (Andrius Kozeniauskas)
I only use activated carbon after medicine was used in the tank.
Now to answer your question I remember reading interesting debate on one of the planted forums.
The conclusion was that it does remove fertilizers and appears to affect more micro nutrients than macro.
It's not bad to use activated carbon as it does add some benefits.
So if you want to use it you'll have to dose a bit more.

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  • stretnik (stretnik)
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12 Jun 2010 21:26 #5 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re:Activated charcoal
Thanks Guys.

Kev.

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12 Jun 2010 22:17 #6 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
If i'm starting a new planted tank and the substrate is new i will add carbon for a couple of weeks. Just in case of any tanning's or Ammonia that can leach from some substrates.

As mentioned just dose a little extra nutrients.

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15 Jun 2010 09:45 #7 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
Activated charcoal will, unfortunately, "remove" (that isn't really the right word by the way) anything with particular chemical attributes (eg size, shape, chemical moities etc etc).....and doesn't descriminate between stuff that is 'Good' and stuff that is 'Bad'.
It doesn't remove everything....and just as well.

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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  • john gannon (john gannon)
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16 Jun 2010 22:50 #8 by john gannon (john gannon)
Replied by john gannon (john gannon) on topic Re:Activated charcoal
would a polyfilter have the same effect as carbon
john

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17 Jun 2010 07:27 #9 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
john gannon wrote:

would a polyfilter have the same effect as carbon
john



Personally I doubt Polyfilter does what it says on the tin. If it did, there would be no need for activated carbon or other resins that use ion exchange. Also, its claimed that the salty version of the stuff eliminates the need for protein skimming...bolderdash if you ask me. Yet another miracle product thats yet to live up to its claims.

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

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17 Jun 2010 09:34 #10 by igmillichip (ian millichip)
The exact chemical nature of PolyFilter is not available to me....does anyone happen to know what the patented polymers are?

But, from a chemical point of view.....it is possible that PolyFilter CAN do what is says (not that I use it, but maybe I should give it a run). If it has various zeolite (or similar catalysts) components bonded then it can do possibly some extraordinary things. There has been some great leap forwards in specifically designed zeolite catalysts/adsorprion/absorption/chemisorbents etc etc.

It also sounds as though Polyfilter has some ion-exchange capabilities.....but, again, are the manufacturers being a bit coy about that?

Carbon can do multiple things...generally, it is used for it adsorption qualities. But there may also be some absoroption and chemisorption happening as well. And with adsorption, there is also the opportunity for speeding up chemical breakdown (if molecules are held in close proximity).

Carbon will also act as mechanical filter to some extent, and (if local conditions are right) will hold bacteria for biological filtration. Not that these points are the main reasons for using carbon....just side uses.

Would I be cautious of using the latest greatest invention? maybe, but maybe always worth further investigation.

ian

Irish Tropical Fish Society (ITFS) Member.

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17 Jun 2010 21:40 #11 by john gannon (john gannon)
Replied by john gannon (john gannon) on topic Re:Activated charcoal
i think a more in depth trial is needed here :) :side: if we could come with certain params for a trial it would be worth doing between a few people and results could be shared
john

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18 Jun 2010 02:55 #12 by Viperbot (Jason Hughes)
I think that is an excellent idea John. If a few folks were willing to get their heads together and compare results we could all benefit from the experiment. I keep both freshwater and marine setups and would be happy to share any current and post use results with anyone interested. Spare no expense :).

Jay

Location: Finglas, North Dublin.

Life
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18 Jun 2010 03:02 #13 by sheag35 (Seamus Gillespie)
dont know whats in Polyfilter, but it works, i use it in every tank i have and all look better than ever, i swear by the stuff

Fishkeeping the Only way to get wet and wild

currently 25 tanks, and breeding is the aim of everything i keep
location:Limerick

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18 Jun 2010 17:05 #14 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
I agree that polyfilter dose work. Although i find the underworld brand works better on salt water than the poly-bio marine.

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