CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

This may seem like a rather dumb question but I honestly don't know. My tank has gotten rather cloudy and I am sure it is from overfeeding my Oscar. I have a Emperor 400 on a 55 gal tank. I changed the filter pads today and, for the first time put charcoal in the second cartridges. Just what does the charcoal do anyway? There is some in the filter pads also. Will the additional charcoal help to clear the water?

Originally posted by Indy
This may seem like a rather dumb question but I honestly don't know. My tank has gotten rather cloudy and I am sure it is from overfeeding my Oscar. I have a Emperor 400 on a 55 gal tank. I changed the filter pads today and, for the first time put charcoal in the second cartridges. Just what does the charcoal do anyway? There is some in the filter pads also. Will the additional charcoal help to clear the water?

Charcoal is a touchy subject here -- I think the consensus here is that it is really unnecessary in a well maintained aquarium. What it does is to absorb chemicals and contaminants and remove them from the water, and I think it's specifically marketed to absorb ammonia. I personally don't use it, other than the small amount of it included in the filter cartridges on my Penguins.

If your cloudiness is because of overfeeding, then a couple of water changes should clear it up -- plus a little less food;) -- if it's because of algae (is it green?) then a dark blanket over the tank for three or four days followed up by a good water change.

--Mark:cool:

Hi......me personally..i love useing activated carbon(charcoal)

I find that it makes the water that extra bit clearer,but as mark said dont treat it as an excuse not to do water changes.it does help reduce toxin levels in the aquarium,but if your are putting medicines in the water then the carbon will absorb it and render it useless.

One other important thing to bare in mind is that it needs to be changed fairly regularly.if you leave the carbon in for too long then it will have the reverse effect and dump all that it has absorbed back into your filter and of course back into your aquarium.(not good!)

good luck......