Contributing
Article: Carbon Products and Phosphates
Thanks
to Dave M. for this insight!
Dear Jennifer,
I couldn't help read your article about
"Clear Aquarium Water", as it brought back many months
of memories and months of
experimenting with the water chemistry of my 80 gallon aquarium.
I am willing to bet a substantial amount of
money that the majority of the freshwater aquarium owners
don't know that one of the worst
things to use in an aquarium is "Activated Carbon",
sometimes referred to as charcoal carbon! All carbon
products used in the filtration process contain PHOSPHATE(S).
If any carbon product, regardless of price or brand, state,
"Does Not Contain or leach PHOSPHATE", than that
manufacturer is lying and should be
penalized for false advertising!
I have spends oodles of time and money on
plants and PHOSPHATE removal chemicals because my aquarium
water had a rather high PHOSPHATE level
and I just couldn't seem to bring the level down or eliminate
the algae problem. My water was
hardly ever crystal clear, so I kept adding more carbon to the
filtration system and using a high
dosage of PHOSPHATE remover, which was also in my filtration
system. Little did I know, at the time, that while
I was removing the PHOSPHATE with the PHOSPHATE removal
product(s), I was, at the same time, adding more
PHOSPHATE than I was removing! I might also add, that my
monthly water changes of 35% didn't make any
After some research, via the internet, I
finally realized that the PHOSPHATE problem was NOT due
to over-feeding, or our drinking
water, but the activated filter carbon itself! I came to
this conclusion because my nitrate and nitrite levels were
zero. My PH was 7.2-7.1. My biological filter was
working perfectly! (Still the water was not crystal clear
because it had high amounts of
PHOSPHATE, which also makes aquarium water a little on the
cloudy side, due to the presence
As we all know (or should know), algae problems
are caused by a combination of three major ingredients and
those are: too much light, high nitrate level and high PHOPHATE.
If any one of these three mentioned conditions exists,
the water will have an algae problem, along with being on the
cloudy side.
The first thing a person does to help
clear-up "cloudy water" is add activated carbon.
Yes, in time, it will clear-up and
polish your water, but while this carbon is running through your
filter, you add adding a significant amount of
PHOSPHATE and your algae problem will get worse than it was
before you started using the carbon and soon,
your water will become cloudy again, once the carbon
breaks-down.
Now, my plants are growing beautifully!
They are lush, green and healthy. My algae problem
has vanished almost completely!
The water is clear.
I use no activated carbon at all in my
filters! I do my monthly 35% water changes and
periodically check my PH and, yes, PHOSPHATE presence. (I
always keep a small bag of PHOSPHATE removal in my filter to
make sure that the water is
PHOSPHATE-FREE).
Sincerely yours,
Dave M.
