Activated carbon with corals with low to moderate par demand

[Smallslandreefer]

So what i have noticed whenever i place a small bag of activated carbon in my 100 gallon some zoas ( not all) and some other corals seem to close up a bit. The reason i place the carbon in the first place is to clear up the yellow pinkments in the water. I have read that activated carbon removes micro elements from the water column tha might effect the corals negatively, however what i ve been thinking lately is that the sudden water clarity of the water from yellowish to transparent might increase light penetration. Corals might get a sudden increase of par in a matter of hours causing them to close up and in a way stressing them. What are your thoughts on this. I also noticed that some zoas get effected and some dont.

 

[CoralB]

try running carbon a few or couple times a week, prefersbly the days your not feeding your coral

 

[Smallslandreefer]

try running carbon a few or couple times a week

Do you thing the reason they close up is the sudden increase in light penetration

 

[CoralB]

Do you thing the reason they close up is the sudden increase in light penetration

Not knowing your parameters I can only say that light change in intensity can have that effect especially if it’s sudden and not gradually . Anything you do in this hobby should be slow and gradual.

 

[CoralB]

Slow and steady is key

 

[Smallslandreefer]

Yes i agree, I whisper that all the time

 

[Wasabiroot]

It's certainly a plausible mechanism for why they close up. Zoas thrive in dissolved organics. Agree it's hard to say without knowing your parameters. There's a correlation here possibly, but it's tough to assign causation.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I agree it is a well known and plausible reason, and it’s a reason to change it more frequently or just change part of it each time. Helps avoid uv and blue spikes.

 

[Smallslandreefer]

I agree it is a well known and plausible reason, and it’s a reason to change it more frequently or just change part of it each time. Helps avoid uv and blue spikes.

Thank you Randy for your reply. I will try and make the change more gradual and not just add carbon when ever i see yellowush water

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You're welcome.

Happy reefing.

 

[Steven Garland]

You could try replacing small amount of carbon when you do a water change wqch week or two. Maybe is using a media bag,replace half of the amount with new and leave half of the old ?