Activated Carbon anyone?

[reefyourself]

Hey everyone,
After quite some time i realized that i completely forgot to change my carbon! It had been 3 months that I did not change it and due to the refugium lighting, I had some algae on it so absorption was probably really low.

My corals (sps tank) was looking amazing! Everything was coloring up polyps were fully extended... it was a fine day... until...

I CHANGED MY CARBON BAG!

My corals over night lost color. The following day my sps polyps were not as out as they used to be. Even my milli's polyps are not out as much anymore!

Tank parameters:

Nitrate: 0 (seachem)
Phosphate: 0.00 (Hanna)
Alk: 3.10meq/L (Salifert)
Ca: 460ppm (Seachem)
Mag: 1400 (Salifert)
Salinity: 1.0264

Any ideas? As a safety I just removed the carbon!

James

 

[nanojg]

Could be a light acclimation problem, carbon cleans the water and allows more light through

Did you rince the carbon?

 

[chilly724]

I remember reading some where that if your carbon has been in use for an extended period to only change half of it at a time. The reason for this was it colonizes with bacteria and becomes part of you filter system.
Bill

 

[reefyourself]

It is very strange cause the same thing used to happen at the beginning when my tank was really sterile... The reason why i decided to change it was because my water had a yellow tinge to it.... im kinda worried because i havea full sps tank and dont want to loose anything...

I am using seachem Matrix

When i used to use Chemipure i never had problems...

 

[elmexotics]

the corals are adjusting to the new amount of light. The carbon is pulling out the yellow and now more light is hitting the corals.

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

Some carbons will affect ph too....

 

[reefyourself]

Yeah my PH changed was at 8.04 in morning to 8.25 before lights out... now its 7.95-8.20

 

[nanojg]

That ph is fine

 

[GreenTankCorals]

I have seen several posts where an innocent but rapid change caused a shock to the corals and fish. I think the tank inhabitants acclimate to the tank chemistry, either optimum or sub-optimum and any sudden change, even innocuous will unbalance the cycle. Changing carbon is a good practice, may be you used a large volume and the water became too sterile, too fast. Activated carbon is certainly more potent than regular carbon. How are your corals now, are they back to normal?

 

[Allmost]

new carbon removed too much DOCs, which are the cause of lost color in coral and PE in corals.

change your carbon monthly, and use correct amount.


Read this :
http://glassbox-design.com/2010/dissolved-organic-carbon-doc-uv-254-aquarium/

 

[GreenTankCorals]

My bad, I did not mean activated carbon is more potent than the regular carbon. I was thinking the more potent ROX/Lignite carbon that the bulkreefsupply sells.

 

[GreenTankCorals]

Excellent reference article "Allmost"
So there is a scientific reason for the poor outcome after introducing "too much of a good thing".

 

[Allmost]

ROX is the most aggressive GAC.

in aquariums, we use activated carbon, not sure what you mean by "carbon"

seachem matrix is a very good GAC, low in po4 too.

if you look at the graphs in the article, its clear that you want to use not too much carbon, and replace it periodically, to avoid any spikes, which can stress your corals.

 

[reefyourself]

I have seen several posts where an innocent but rapid change caused a shock to the corals and fish. I think the tank inhabitants acclimate to the tank chemistry, either optimum or sub-optimum and any sudden change, even innocuous will unbalance the cycle. Changing carbon is a good practice, may be you used a large volume and the water became too sterile, too fast. Activated carbon is certainly more potent than regular carbon. How are your corals now, are they back to normal?

My corals don't look so well at all... they have lost color and become pale. My tank is only 25 gallons...and its full sps! I mean parameters are rock solid. I just hadn't changed my carbon for awhile. Right now I am pulling out my carbon and see how things go. My millipora was so hairy...and its polyps have completely retracted its been 2 days...same for my acropora Convexa.. the rest of the corals seem to be doing fine with full polyp extension.

Its very strange tho cause everything was doing A1 until i changed that carbon.

Should I remove it? I only used 3 tablespoons of activated carbon (seachem).

 

[Allmost]

read the link

DOCs have dropped, after putting new GAC in.
corals lost color as result.
let the carbon sit in the sump, kneed daily. it has already removed alot of docs, and leaving it in will just maintain the DOC levels [from the article]
change at 4 weeks, or when you feel like its done (odor or color of water)


if you are running it passive, in a reactor, use half.

 

[reefyourself]

Weird tho I removed my carbon after i had back effects with it. Just now, I added chemipure and see no ill results... actual polyp extension almost doubled on all my sps...