To carbon or not to carbon

[ReeferBill]

I am not sure if there is an extensive thread on this idea, but I have heard many different opinions on this topic. Does anyone have their point of view on whether using carbon in an established tank is critical, benign, or harmful to the tank itself? I will start by saying I have always used it in my tanks through a carbon reactor. I change it every 2 weeks religiously because I think it polishes the water and removes a lot of the harmful nutrients in the water. Anyone else want to pipe in on their experience, please do...

 

[navila06]

I use it in a reactor as well and change it out every two weeks, i have been doing this for years, and haven't noticed adverse changes when using it, I do also believe it helps remove harmful nutrients and makes the water look clearer.

 

[ReeferBill]

I never thought about it, until I read some other peoples post talking about how it strips the water of some good nutrients and in an established aquarium it is actually bad. Thanks for the reply.

 

[mc-cro]

I have always used carbon, in the past it was just passively in a bag in the sump, but for the last couple of years it has been in a BRS reactor. I change it out once per month or so.

I am a big advocate of it, and I have proven to myself that it will eliminate the yellowish tinge to water and polish it up.

 

[cdness]

Pros:
- It will make the water clearer which in turn raises your lighting PAR and penetration power
- It removes harmful chemicals from the water if they are introduced. I know the first thing people say when someone has a contamination question is "Add Carbon!"
- It helps with the saltwater "smell" according to my wife as she can tell when the carbon is needing to be changed.

Cons:
- If run in a reactor and is tumbling it can cause fine particles to enter the aquarium which has been known to affect or cause HLLE
- It has a short life of around 2 - 3 weeks and once exhausted it will leach the nutrients back into the tank. Maintenance is a must.

Personally I keep it in the sump in a passive filter bag as a small scale insurance policy. If there is ever a cleaning chemical used by the tank or maybe pesticides sprayed outside that get into the house, the carbon will reduce or remove the effect of the chemical. I feel it is better to be safe than sorry and believe carbon is a good thing if maintained.

 

[mc-cro]

interesting, I have never heard of carbon leaching stuff back into the water. I suppose its possible, anything left full of nasties in a tank cant be good for it.

 

[ReeferBill]

Does anyone believe it strips the tank of vital nutrients? Some say it takes out some nutrients that SPS need. Thanks for your replies, I agree with all of you. Is there such a thing as too much carbon?

 

[ReeferBill]

My feeling is that even if it does leech back in, at least the carbon took it out. Some people feel that a filter sock is bad because it just holds all the dead and crummy matter that will cause nitrates, but to me its good that it is catching them and you can remove them from the tank.

 

[mc-cro]

I have heard people complain the BRS ROX carbon caused problems in SPS tanks because it was too agressive at removing stuff, but I have not used ROX.

 

[ReeferBill]

I have heard that the dust of the carbon can be a cause of HLLE disease, but my outlfow goes into a filter sock, so is that not a problem then?

 

[mc-cro]

there was a study a few years ago that seemed to indicate that carbon could cause HLLE. take it for what its worth to you. How fine of a filter sock are you using? unless it layers of felt, I doubt it is actually catching the carbon fines.

the reason I say that is my carbon reactor output is very close to my skimmer input, and whenever I dont rinse well enough, or tumble the carbon too hard, my skimmate turns black from the dust. I cant see it in the water, but its in the skimmate.

 

[kingator]

I am not sure if there is an extensive thread on this idea, but I have heard many different opinions on this topic. Does anyone have their point of view on whether using carbon in an established tank is critical, benign, or harmful to the tank itself? I will start by saying I have always used it in my tanks through a carbon reactor. I change it every 2 weeks religiously because I think it polishes the water and removes a lot of the harmful nutrients in the water. Anyone else want to pipe in on their experience, please do...

What kind of systems are we talking about sps.....or lps .....

 

[ReeferBill]

Any and all. SPS, LPS, Softie, FOWLR, nano.

 

[Zack]

I only keep sps and when I stopped using carbon I noticed an improvement in corals. I have an ULNS so the carbon may have been taking out too much... not sure. That's my personal experience anyway

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[ReeferBill]

Thanks for the post.

 

[mcarroll]

While I think it's harmless, it is one of many chemical filtration strategies that are unnecessary on a well balanced (not overstocked) system. I've never used any and never needed any.

-Matt

 

[ReeferBill]

I wonder if it comes from so many years of old school fish tank maintenance mentality. The advancements in this hobby over the last 15 years are so great that it might be unnecessary, but since people have "always done it that way", its hard to change. It would be tough for me to remove mine, since my system is overstocked, and I have a FOWLR, but if I had a reed with skimmer, sump macroaglae growing, I might give it a try. Thanks for the input.

 

[kuansreef]

I only keep sps and when I stopped using carbon I noticed an improvement in corals. I have an ULNS so the carbon may have been taking out too much... not sure. That's my personal experience anyway

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

I argee, I have run caron for 6 months and my SPS frags kept dying on me. Now, i only put a little in sock and my SPS are flowering.

 

[ReeferBill]

That is good information to know guys. Thanks for posting.

 

[mike007]

I only use Seahem matrix carbon. It works great and i have never had any problems. Go to Seachem .com and read about it.