charcoal help

[dadmccabe]

Is activated charcoal (like for fish tank filters) safe / beneficial to add to substrate mix?

[mrzoggs]

ive heard some say its fine, and ive heard some take good minerals out of the soil. Im sure everyone has different opinions though. i use natural wood charcoal from lowes and break it up. its a lot cheaper and seems to work fine.

[dadmccabe]

Thanks! Of course as soon as I mix my substrate soil (after a ton of forum reading) and setup my viv.. I get a reply (from an old post) telling me to steer clear of the charcoal argh!! I appreciate any feedback, don't get me wrong... but now I'm nervous... I added a good inch of plantation soil on top of my "mix" basically to keep any larger "chunks" below the surface.

[morgan]

Charcoal will not remove 'hard' minerals, mostly organics. It helps for people that have too wet of substrate. Soupy substrate will eventually sour, which charcoal can help absorbing those compounds.
If you have proper substrate layers, it is not needed. Will it hurt? I don't think so...I've been adding orchid charcoal chunks to my mix since forever with no noticed affects to animals.

[arielgasca420]

I agree with morgan that proper layering would be your best bet. my biggest concern with my terrarium and charcoal will be my frog accidentally ingesting it so I use a barrier (mesh or screen) to keep him from burying into it.