Carbon will remove most organics and ions - so yes, if it's in the water, it's being tied up by the carbon. However, the carbon can only tie up so much, so if it's been in the filter for a month or two, chances are that all the carbon is no longer active. For most cases, carbon is not beneficial to a planted tank. Carbon performs similar functions to live plants. Carbon is what you need to use in the absence of plants. Also, be aware that the biowheel on that penguin will work to remove CO2 from your water. Any/all interaction between air and water helps to exhaust CO2. You might consider taking the biowheel off, so long as your fish load isn't too high and your plants are healthy. When I (briefly) used penguin filters on planted tanks, I would not use the prefabricated filter inserts. Rather, I just used foam inserts (not made by marineland - needed a bit of DIY) instead.
|