Do you use active carbon in filter for planted tank?

[dennisks]

Any problem in using the carbon in planted tanks?

[Simon]

carbon is use to remove traces of medication or any chemicals after a treatment

[loupgarou]

putting in planted tank will deprive plants of various metals..

[dennisks]

Thanks guys. I will not put carbon in it. Better to ensure the plants are o.k and I suppose the fishes will be healthy too.

[capnemo]

This post is very old, but the theme it´s very interesting. Active carbon is very useful in the first stage of a planted tank, because it can help you with the excess of nutrients that the substrate release to the water. After a few weeks active carbon is not a must on a planted tank.

[valice]

And it also depends on what the activated carbon is used for. If the primary use is to remove chemicals and medication after treatment, it is probably advisable to remove after a certain time to prevent the leeching back when the adsorption capacity is exhausted.

However, if the primary use is like you mentioned, to take up excess nutrients especially during the initial stages of setup, then it is also true that you might not need to remove them. One particular school of thought is that putting activated bamboo charcoal will continue to act as adsorption of the nutrients, but also will leech back some of the nutrients in terms of ammonia/nitrate for bacteria in the filter and so providing the necessary macro nutrients for the plants in the tank.