Activated carbon question

[paulyboy]

Hi All,

I have just acquired 1 cubic foot of activated carbon. Would a small bag of it in my tub be beneficial for the fish even though I do 100% water changes every day?
The set up is 2 cement mixing tubs from Home Depot which measure 3' x 2', the water is 5" deep, the fish are alternated between the two every day. Filtration is by a sponge filter so the carbon would just be in the bag without any water flowing through it.

I have used carbon in filter systems in the past but have never seen any Ranchu set ups using it, is there any reason it is not used? Sorry, if I am completely missing something here.

Many Thanks

Paul

[kendal]

i would think you would need some sort of flow through.

a sponge filter would be pretty useless without the current and i would thing a bag of carbon would be the same.

[paulyboy]

Thanks Kendal,

I thought that I had read somewhere that carbon will still absorb to some degree even without water flowing through it. Thinking about it though im sure you are right as the proportion of absorption must be greatly effected without the flow.

Many Thanks again

[Ichthius]

Skip the carbon in the system. Change your water and use the carbon for dechlorination.

[GlassGoldfish]

What inspired you to do this Japanese style of fish keeping, PB?

[paulyboy]

I was born in Bristol, England and always kept Bristol Blues but on coming to America found that it was almost impossible to get anything half decent. I moved to New York and was fortunate enough to meet 'The Truth' who was very kind in giving me some of his knowledge and some of his fish!
I now live in Florida and recently purchased some of Garys BBR's and am striving to do them justice.
Thanks for your interest.

[Cincy Ranchu]

I have used it to remove color, like residual PP, other wise I think it is mostly a marketing gimmic....I also used it once when I overdosed a tank with fomalin, it seemed to work well for this also

[paulyboy]

Thanks Cincy,

On that note I will take heed of your advice and stop with this carbon nonsense!:)

Is it at all possible to keep good ranchu with filtered water (UV, wet and dry and media) rather than 100% water changes everyday?

Thank you

[bigbettadan]

Sponge filters along with massive weekly to biweekly water changes work fine for me... With young ranchu I do a 100% water change every 4th day, but that is with 6 feedings a day.

Dan

[Cincy Ranchu]

The groomers on thios page tend to change water daily. This is quite impossible with my travels. I am currently at twice (75% each time) a week for BBR and once a week for yearlying and breeders.

I just bought a 10 watt submersible UV system that I can rotate. I plan on moving it amongst 6 or 8 tanks, one per week and see what happens.

My experience with UV indoors as a permanent fixture is all negative. Back when the GFSA was cooking a friend named Dave Vigus grew monster fish using canisters and UV. Trouble was they could not manage outside his system. Outisde his UV system they died witghin weeks ( 90%: died)

[paulyboy]

I too have heard of this from the UK, on a fish farm where I worked. The fish were great on site but as soon as they were transferred to a different non-UV area they went downhill almost immediately. The fish that stayed in the UV treated water continued in excellent health. It was as though they needed to experience the bacteria to toughen them up but this was not a problem if they were never exposed to such.

Saying that, I have also heard of people not passing 100% of water through the UV unit on a recirculation system. This is to conserve a population of the beneficial non-attached bacteria.....I am assuming.

So, maybe a UV in combination with 100% WC's is just too much.

Anyway, I am buying a UV tmrw!! :) I will keep you informed.

Cheers

[kendal]

i was recently told that some Asian breeders intentionally let their fish get sick in the BBR stage then cure them. this with the goal of hardening them off. makes sense in an odd way given the previous posts relating the downside of running a sterile system, but i am not going to try it personally.

PS. i run a UV on my outdoor system. there are plenty of bugs on the fish still, but i have never had a systemic disease problem. clean water in a dirty pond works well for me.

[VeiltailGuy]

The groomers on thios page tend to change water daily. This is quite impossible with my travels. I am currently at twice (75% each time) a week for BBR and once a week for yearlying and breeders.

I just bought a 10 watt submersible UV system that I can rotate. I plan on moving it amongst 6 or 8 tanks, one per week and see what happens.

My experience with UV indoors as a permanent fixture is all negative. Back when the GFSA was cooking a friend named Dave Vigus grew monster fish using canisters and UV. Trouble was they could not manage outside his system. Outisde his UV system they died witghin weeks ( 90%: died)

UV can be great...But always Run the risk of once out of system, they go downhill quick! because of no need to create immunity, better for prevention like what I think you may be doing Gary, or help treat a infestation of some sort, along with meds, or even during quarantine:exact: