carbon/sponge substitute

[ItzJustinN]

started rinsing my carbon bag that came with my aquarium, 10 mins and still alot of dust.... should i keep rinsing?? either way, what a pain in the ***, i know i need to change the carbon every two months or so, but what can i use instead when the carbon has run its course?


i have rsm 130d, i will have live rock biological filter and mechanical sponge filter which i might also swap out.

ideas please

[ItzJustinN]

i would like to note that i have two cats also, and cat hair will inevitably get in my tank no matter how hard i try, so keeping the spong filter might not be a bad idea lol/

[Ron Reefman]

Why do you run carbon? Does your system have a sump? There is nothing wrong with your mechanical sponge filter as long as you clean it regularly. And it's better to do it before it gets really dirty. Some people don't run any mechanical filters, but a good skimmer, lots of LR, a refugium with macro algae and a DSB can all help reduce the need for a sponge, filter floss or socks. I run 5 drain lines and have filter socks on 2 and a skimmer on a 3rd. BTW, I have only 1 cat and he doesn't shed much.

I have a big system (see sig below) and I have a reactor plumbed into my sump. But in 2 years I've run GFO for 6 weeks when I had a small hairy algae outbreak and stopped using it when the algae went away. I've never opened the bottle of carbon on my aquarium supplies shelf.