i am trying to figure out what are the benefits of running active Carbon in a reactor or bag. How often do you run it? What are the advantages of running it? What are the disadvantage of running it? I have a brand 1/4 pound of BRS rox Carbon and don't know if I should run it or not. I have tried to read up on it but I can't find to much about it. From what I have read It can strip the good stuff out of the water. Can someone shed some light on this topic.
I empathize with you on this conundrum. That said, we do run carbon in a reactor.
First to answer your specific questions:
Advantages of Carbon:
a.
Water color - With time aquarium water becomes yellowish. This is due to materials in the water absorbing light, and this lowers PAR. Thus some of the beneficial light is lost. Charcoal filtration can clear the water increasing PAR and thus increase light for the corals.
b.
Tannins - Should you have wood/driftwood in your aquascape, carbon will remove the yellow tannin. This will allow light to penetrate the water with a benefit on PAR as above. Tannins can also acidify the water; thus carbon may help with pH.
c.
Smell - Charcoal absorbs compounds that can cause unpleasant odors.
d.
Medication Removal - If one had to medicate the main tank rather than a hospital tank, carbon can remove the medication at the end of the course. It can also be a life saver, if the life react poorly to a medication. Carbon can lower the level of medication thus helping the responding poorly.
f.
Chemical Removal - Sometimes chemicals are used intentionally, but one might want to be removed afterwards. Carbon can also serve as a emergency measure if a chemical unintentionally enters the tank. This is similar to the age old practice of using carbon in the stomach for poisoned or overdosed human patients emergency room.
g.
Poisons & Spores - It has been said that carbon can filter out defensive agents released by corals.
Disadvantages of Carbon:
a.
User Complacency - Some see clear water with carbon and think less water changes are needed. Carbon does not remove the need for water changes.
b.
Phosphates - The source of the carbon matters. Some products are said to have high phosphate and contain matter that will negatively attack a tank. That said, BRS ROX is high quality and our choice of carbon.
c.
Disease? There is literature regarding "Hole-In-The-Head Disease," also known as "Head and Lateral Line Erosion" (HLLE), "Lateral Line Erosion" (LLE,) and "Lateral Line Disease" (LLD), in fish. Some speculate this condition may be associated with carbon. This is debated. Some propose that carbon dust is the culprit.
d.
Medication Removal: This is an advantage and disadvantage. The latter occurs when one wants to medicate a tank. To do this carbon must be removed; otherwise the medicine will be elimated and the occupants will get no therapy.
e.
Dust - Carbon dust is a negative. It may also be related to disease, see above. A low dust version, like BRS ROX, may solve this.
Some insights from our experience :
Placement:
a.
Bag - The bag in the sump is easy, concealed, and requires minimal equipment.
b.
Reactor - This can be easy and concealed, but requires more equipment. I use a BRS Mini Reactor and have multiple cartridges. The latter are refilled in one session. Some are specialized i.e. carbon with floss, carbon/GFO/floss, or just floss. An advantage to the reactor is increased flow and use as an in-line filter. An example of the latter is placing Lanthanum (Elimi-Phos Rapid) before the reactor so the precipitate is removed in the reactor carbon/floss cartridge.
Timing/Frequency:
- For my son's heavily stocked tank, I change the carbon cartridge with each biweekly water change. Carbon is cheap, and this pattern works. Others get good results with monthly changes. For a heavily stocked aquarium increased frequency is required.
Dosage:
- I use 1 cup per course in a 20 gallon tank. For the char/GFO cartridges, this is approximately 1/3 GFO and 2/3 carbon.
Dust:
- I hated rinsing poor quality carbon. Regardless how well one tried, some carbon dust entered the tank. My solution was to switch to BRS Premium ROX and use a filter. As a filter, I place floss or a circle of pinke floss over the carbon in the cartridge. These prevent carbon particles entering the outlet of the reactor. Initially, I just used the foam separators, but using a disposable filter avoids cleaning foam.
Why and When:
Carbon is used by mankind over time because the small openings in the material are an excellent mechanical filters for organics. I agree carbon is non-selective and may take out helpful and unhelpful organics. However, in total, I find it a positive and a great option.
It is a great stand by for emergencies. If I see stressed life, I take a waiter sample and add carbon and possibly a dechlorinator. With carbon onboard, I feel something might be working while, I test and water change.
There is a definite benefit to water color and PAR. It may be just a personal preference, but that matters.
As for dust and disease, I have managed the dust issue and have had no issues compatible HLLE in two years.
As for when we do not use carbon, I just use a cartridge of floss to "polish" the tank.
In summary, use your best judgement based on your needs and the data you've gathered. All we can do is make an informed decision based on what is best for our tank inhabitants,
Jim
The reason is that GAC, and ROX especially are amazingly good at binding whatever they can in the water column and holding on to them. I would recommend running it in a reactor if you want to see maximum effectiveness, however, putting it in a bag in an area of high flow would be effective as well. I do both, one tank is an AIO too small for reactors, so I have a bag in the back, another tank is 135 and can support a reactor, so that's where it is. I am running mine 24/7 at the moment for a specific reason, but how often you run it depends on what you are trying to achieve: if you just want to have much more clear water, running it for 5 days or so every month will suffice. If you are trying to neutralize coral toxins, say, leather coral toxins, then you should run it all the time. There are numerous advantages: crystal clear water, elimination of toxins, from livestock or other sources, removal of organic wastes and heavy metals, removal of organics that can break down into nitrates, and help in keeping water clean for larger sized tanks. That helps keep water changes down so 10% weekly is manageable. It is also super effective if one is using ozone: it removes the ozone molecule, or I should say, neutralizes ozone before it reaches the DT. It also helps neutralize ozone produced oxidants (OPO's) that could be harmful to livestock in the DT when running ozone.
