Carbon Alternatives for planted tanks?

[Encruste8z]

Ive had my planted tank for nearly 2 and a half months now and i must say, my plants arent doing too well in them , even with regular liquid fert. dosing.
Currently, im using ACs, zeolite , fine and coarse sponge , BioHome and a tiny amount of crushed coral/mineral chips for maintaning water hardness...in my Ecco 2233 for a 3' tank.
Point in hand, I was just wondering if there any suitable alternatives for the chemical aspect of aquarium filtration(if any)in a planted environment.....other than AC (heard Chemipure™ is a good substitute for planted aquaria, but some folks say its just premium grade carbon, and for its price too, kinda wee bit too expensive for replacement media IMO)...so hopefully, some experienced bros out there could help me out wit this conundrum.
Would gladly appreciate it!

[Plantbrain]

/generally, plants are the filkter, so we don't need carbon. Removing waste is often performed by water changes in CO2 enriched tanks, bacteria are used to reduce the organic waste and by products in non CO2 enriched planted tanks, the end result is still the same though........

Plants are the filter.
No one uses carbon or resins in planted tanks as a rule.
Some do for start up only, but a simple addition of mulm and peat to the substrate takes care of all that.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Encruste8z]

hey thanks man for enlightening me,....im green in these areas and ur advice is very much valued.