Carbon - Amount and Frequency

fishguy449

New member
I have a 44g reef with lps, shrooms, rose tip, some cleanup crew. I filter with some foam followed by a sock of carbon. That's it except for the lr. How much carbon would you run and how often would you suggest changing the carbon?
 
I would suggest a skimmer, its an important piece of equipment for a SW tank... and run the carbon 24/7 changing the media every month or sooner if needed.
 
My overstocked but well-skimmed 100g gets about 1-2 cups carbon changed every two weeks. Some people say it is better to use less and change it more frequently, which makes sense to me (don't shock the system by infrequent large changes in water conditions).
 
Fish

1/2 cup / 50 gals, except for ROX carbon, that is 1/3 cup / 50 gal. Remove once a week and rise it well and put back and then change it once a month. Run it 24/7 as suggested by Ryan
 
Fish

1/2 cup / 50 gals, except for ROX carbon, that is 1/3 cup / 50 gal. Remove once a week and rise it well and put back and then change it once a month. Run it 24/7 as suggested by Ryan


Boomer
In a reactor or is a net fine as well
 
In a reactor no need to take out and rinse, just change 1 / m. Net / bag siting in sup or what ever, 1 / week for cleaning, change 1/ m and the same for canister or other type of filter container
 
Oops, sry & thx for reminding me Ryan. I have a AquaC Remora hang-on (sump area on back of tank). Mag 5 pushing the recirc thru the tank, maxijet on the remora. Thx for the tips. I've been changing much too much carbon and not nearly often enough.
 
In another thread I posted, some said that they used water from water change to rinse carbon. So your posted rinsing/changing schedule is an indication of how often you change water? I was changing about 10-15% every 10-14 days. Then some local guys in my area talked me into letting it go alot longer and just top off. You guys?
 
FWIW, I've found that my GAC cannsiter is a prime place for bacteria to accumulate since I'm dosing vinegar and vodka. The cannister gets clogged with a clear slime so I rinse the GAC to get it flowing again, and export the nutrients at the same time. :)
 
Yes, canister filters are an ideal place for bacteria to grow, carbon dosing or not and is why they need to be rinsed out once a week fishguy. And when you use water change water you are just leaving pollution in it. It should be rinsed out well with FW and tumbled in a mesh bag as you rinse it and even squeezing the bag when you do it, which will break some of the carbon grains and expose new surface area. Tap water is fine.
 
In another thread I posted, some said that they used water from water change to rinse carbon. So your posted rinsing/changing schedule is an indication of how often you change water? I was changing about 10-15% every 10-14 days. Then some local guys in my area talked me into letting it go alot longer and just top off. You guys?

Rinse carbon in dirty water? That sounds counterproductive. Why not rinse in RO?


WC schedule is dictated by how stocked and heavily fed the tank is, among other things. My system needs 10% once a week or it starts declining noticeably -- but I stock and feed quite heavily.
 
Well, I would like to see the data that GAC calculator is based on. I will admit it is pretty close to what I've been advocating for many years. More than likely they are formatting it to Iodine and Molasses #s like I do.
 
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