carbon reactor in an sps tank

[ShesEasy]

Hey there ladies and gents. I am trying to look into the benefits and pitfalls of using carbon as a filtering media in a reactor in a SPS dominated tank

I have a 180g with 50g sump all I have is a phosban and skimmer and micron filters in terms of any filtration

I only know that it's good for making your water crystal clear and not smell..
But how is it in terms of taking.out sugars and minerals, things that Sps feed off of

What ever any one can add to this to help me learn would be great!

 

[Scorpius]

I'm in the camp of never running carbon unless there is a definable issue where it's needed. Medication removal. Coral warfare/toxins etc. Carbon can remove/strip the water of doc's, amino acids etc and make it too clean. If you do run carbon take it slow as it will clear the water and allow more light penetration and increase the available light for the coral.

I have a mixed reef with everything from Acropora to mushroom coral I haven't ran any carbon for several months now and everyone gets along just fine.

I myself just run a skimmer, gfo in a media bag, and a refugium with Chaeto and a small Mangrove. Keep it simple.

 

[ShesEasy]

oh awesome never considered more light cutting through

I try nd keep it simple myself to but I'm trying to experiment, I wana find why I cant get th growth everyone ealse seems to be able to get my paramiters are good but somethings missing, and so I wana play with things one of wghich I considered carbon, others like strontium and iodine and what have you....

I can get them to encrust but not grow


I know carbon and groth probably have no relation but I'm curious of all aspects of reefing

 

[SkullV]

I always run carbon, as great as it is at removing an issue, it's also great at preventing that issue from ever happening. I'd rather have the carbon pull the heavy metals, toxins, etc., out of my tank before I have to see a problem.

I've never had a problem with GAC stripping my tank.

 

[ShesEasy]

I always run carbon, as great as it is at removing an issue, it's also great at preventing that issue from ever happening. I'd rather have the carbon pull the heavy metals, toxins, etc., out of my tank before I have to see a problem.

I've never had a problem with GAC stripping my tank.

and this is with an sps tank? dosnt affect your acros?

 

[Scorpius]

and this is with an sps tank? dosnt affect your acros?

What works for him may not work for your system. Every tank is different. If you do run carbon, run only a small amount, 1/4 of what your tank calls for, and see how things respond.

 

[SkullV]

and this is with an sps tank? dosnt affect your acros?

Full SPS tank with a couple others thrown in there. The carbon does not affect them at all (as far as I can tell). You can check my build thread linked in my signature for photos.

 

[Reefvet]

But how is it in terms of taking.out sugars and minerals, things that Sps feed off of

Carbon has been a standard in for freshwater and saltwater aquarium filtratration for decades because it's pretty hard to beat it's benefits and it has few drawbacks.

It's very good at adsorbing larger organics accumulating the tank water from fish waste, uneaten food etc.. It's perhaps most effective at keeping water from yellowing and reducing the light that reaches your corals.

It's pretty hard to over filter with carbon, though if you try hard enough you can do it. The likelihood of carbon removing anything your corals need should be easily offset by regular water changes.

 

[Rickyrooz1]

I always run carbon, as great as it is at removing an issue, it's also great at preventing that issue from ever happening. I'd rather have the carbon pull the heavy metals, toxins, etc., out of my tank before I have to see a problem.

I've never had a problem with GAC stripping my tank.

Funny you say that because the new trend seems to be dosing heavy metals in our SPS tanks to get more color pop. I have been debating on removing my ROX 0.8 carbon or leaving it in as I have an oversized skimmer and the water seems to be too clean so I have been dosing trace elements as well as amino acids. Running carbon defeats that purpose because it will absorb what I am dosing into the tank.

 

[71xlch]

I always run carbon, as great as it is at removing an issue, it's also great at preventing that issue from ever happening. I'd rather have the carbon pull the heavy metals, toxins, etc., out of my tank before I have to see a problem.

I've never had a problem with GAC stripping my tank.

I tend not to agree. I have never seen a tank with an issue where the culprit was proven to be mercury, chromium, cobalt etc.

If you always do something then you cant say you have never had a problem not doing it. That implies you have never tried.

But i do run carbon to keep the yellowing out of my water.

 

[SkullV]

Funny you say that because the new trend seems to be dosing heavy metals in our SPS tanks to get more color pop. I have been debating on removing my ROX 0.8 carbon or leaving it in as I have an oversized skimmer and the water seems to be too clean so I have been dosing trace elements as well as amino acids. Running carbon defeats that purpose because it will absorb what I am dosing into the tank.

It's an interesting trend, not necessarily new, but definitely more widespread with the Aquaforest and Triton systems becoming popular in NA. I am actually starting to use some of the AF products, but cannot bring myself to internationally dose copper in my tank with the purpose of inhibiting (killing?) zooxanthallae growth.

For people willing to test for each of these additions I'm sure the system is fantastic though. I'd prefer to run carbon to keep build up down. Seems to have been working for decades.

 

[jbvdhp]

I run carbon 24/7. Should change it out today. Thanks for the reminder


Sent using your IP address

 

[ShesEasy]

thanks for al the words guys, love to see some diff oppinions

I might try a small bit in a reactor see how my tank does

in regards to the hevy metal dosing, what do yo gys know about all this getting colours like green from iorn, pink from potassium, and theres another from iodine

 

[Rickyrooz1]

thanks for al the words guys, love to see some diff oppinions

I might try a small bit in a reactor see how my tank does

in regards to the hevy metal dosing, what do yo gys know about all this getting colours like green from iorn, pink from potassium, and theres another from iodine

I would look at Biggles thread in the SPS section.

 

[K.C.]

What ever any one can add to this to help me learn would be great!

Dr Tim's article on Carbon is one of the most concise I've read and well worth your time.

 

[Scorpius]

Dr Tim's article on Carbon is one of the most concise I've read and well worth your time.

Written in 1993. :lolspin:

 

[SkullV]

Written in 1993. :lolspin:

So no longer valid? Carbon uptake of a specific element in seawater at a specific pH is pretty "timeless".

 

[bif24701]

I run carbon ROX and GFO, but only a cup for a 220 gallon system, changed monthly, or less often. I does Red Sea Reef energy A&B


Aaron

180 Gallon Dream (Now Reality)
http://www.panhandlereefers.com/forums/index.php?/topic/14405-180-Gallon-Dream-(Now-Reality)