Mysterious Fish Deaths, Carbon and Heavy Metal

[sen5241b]

I've been reading about the buildup of heavy metals in tanks and I am wondering if it may be the cause of some of the more mysterious fish deaths. I've had situations where more than one fish all died in the space of a few days with no explanation I can think of. They say to use only high quality carbon that has had the ash (which contains some phosphates) washed out.

I used to run carbon on occasion. From now on I'm running it permanently.

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[dcantucson]

I run Carbon continuously also. I figure the benefits out way the negatives.

 

[little_fish]

But wouldnt the build up of heavy metals also mean that any fish you put in that tank after it has reached that critical point also die? unless you start running carbon at that point

 

[OhNoNemo]

I use chemi-pure

 

[sen5241b]

But wouldnt the build up of heavy metals also mean that any fish you put in that tank after it has reached that critical point also die? unless you start running carbon at that point

I would guess yes. They also said in the article that if you run carbon always you should put in a "trace element" additive but then if you do a weekly water change I would think that it is unnecessary.