carbon
- Thread starter Daddyrawg
- Start date
Valentini89
New member
I run carbon 24/7 in my sump and remove only if dosing - carbon running in your tank non stop can really Keep your water polished. I change it out as needed.
shaginwagon13
Chartered Accountant
Agreed.
However keep an eye out if you have tangs in your tank. Carbon and tangs sometimes don't react well to each other:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2633024
mcgyvr
New member
24/7 here.. Haven't changed it in a while though..
I originally started it just because I wanted to have potential protection from coral toxins effecting other corals if they ever get crabby..
I haven't noticed any changes in the tank that I can attribute to running carbon.. Of course TOC content is very hard/expensive to measure..
I originally started it just because I wanted to have potential protection from coral toxins effecting other corals if they ever get crabby..
I haven't noticed any changes in the tank that I can attribute to running carbon.. Of course TOC content is very hard/expensive to measure..
AlSimmons
New member
The problem with GAC is that nobody really knows how long it lasts, so you might want to just pick a date and replace the carbon then. Just as an example a lot of people will change their carbon once every 3 or 4 weeks regardless of whether it's still working or not.
lapin
Member
As stated above , without testing, no way to tell how long the stuff lasts.
Carbons capacity for chemicals depends on many things. Size of the bed. Pore size of the carbon. The molecular weight of the chemical being removed, the concentration of the chemical in the stream being treated, other chemicals and debris in the treated stream, operating temperature of the system and polarity of the chemicals being removed all affect the life of a carbon bed. I run it 24/7
Carbons capacity for chemicals depends on many things. Size of the bed. Pore size of the carbon. The molecular weight of the chemical being removed, the concentration of the chemical in the stream being treated, other chemicals and debris in the treated stream, operating temperature of the system and polarity of the chemicals being removed all affect the life of a carbon bed. I run it 24/7
stingythingy45
New member
Ran it once after a flat worm treatment.
Tangs developed HLLD and lost a nice Blue tang that jumped one night.( and no, it wasn't the Flat worm Exit, it was the carbon)
I wont use carbon unless it's absolutely necessary.
And it would be a small amount for a limited time.
Tangs developed HLLD and lost a nice Blue tang that jumped one night.( and no, it wasn't the Flat worm Exit, it was the carbon)
I wont use carbon unless it's absolutely necessary.
And it would be a small amount for a limited time.
AlSimmons
New member
Just out of curiosity how long did you run the carbon for? From what I understand about HLLE is that it's progressive, meaning it doesn't just happen overnight so to say. I may be wrong though..
stingythingy45
New member
I have a 90 gallon display with a 70 gallon basement sump and 20L refugium.
I ran a filter sock on the overflow return to the sump. It had about 3 cups of activated carbon in there.
Noticed both tangs, blue and yellow acting funny within a day. Clowns started to act funny as well. This was after a large water change as well.
Tangs showed signs of HLLD 2nd day and progressively got worse.
Figured it was the released"toxins" from the flat worms.
Blue Tang jumped one night.
Removed carbon.
Clowns improved with in 1/2 day.
Yellow tang took a week or more to recover. Now back to looking great again.
I've been at this a reefing stuff a while. Seen many instances of the same thing happen after using carbon. Maybe I used too much, don't know.
Only know that next time,if any, water changes will do.
Just my 2 cents.
AlSimmons
New member
smart
24/7 though a reactor. Changed monthly. Previously mild HLLE on tangs after change. Since (last year 7 years), rinse it before it goes into reactor, drain reactor to a bucket until water is clear, and reactor (with GFO reactor) drains into a sock. Never an issue since and it is never low tide [I like that lol]
