# Substrate Mix?



## JeffLL (Oct 20, 2006)

I had posted in El Natural a question regarding peat and its placement. The tank is very close to NPT although not exactly. Please refer to the original post http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/el-natural/33608-where-to-put-the-peat.html

Perhaps this is the better forum to ask in. I have, since then, considered putting charcoal in the LECA/peat mix to help leach the heavy metals that may come from the coal slag. However, how then to remove saturated charcoal? Would I be better off w/ charcoal in a gauze bag in the sump alongside the powerhead?


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## yxberia (Apr 19, 2005)

I would put charcoal in canister filter if I were you. Easier to remove after 2 weeks.


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

after a week or less, charcoal loses its absorbing abilities, there are many discussions/arguments on the actual benefits of using activated charcoal at all. most use it to remove tannins and little else. dont put it in the substrate, it will become useless in a short time and may breakdown and make a mess later.


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## bristles (Mar 7, 2006)

I think in the sump would be a good place for the filter bag of charcoal, that said, I stoped using charcoal some time ago after reading many posts as to it's effectivness after a few days. I now use a synthetic polymer called "Purigen" that I got online from Big Al's


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## JG06 (Nov 5, 2006)

It has been my experience that you don't need charcoal. When you do those water changes, you're removing the impurities that charcoal removes. What you do need is a good biological filter and some decent mechanical filtration to prevent the biological from clogging. Get that going and you'll be fine.


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