changin carbon and phosphate question

[rsantangelo3@co]

When shld you change it out? Im runnig 2 little fishes 150 with carbon in 1 and phos in another filled to top well 2 inch below. shld i be running less and changing more? Phos still testing in water even with phosban runnig

 

[Gdevine]

A lot depends on factors like bio load, feeding patterns, size of tank...things like that. But that being said, for years I've been changing both every 4 weeks on a 65g display with great success. If you change your medium on a monthly basis you should be fine all things being equal. Also, as long as you have decent flow with the amount of medium you're using you should be fine. It will never take out 100% of the Phos but it will take out most!

 

[rsantangelo3@co]

my flow is 150gph. i was told slower the better through reactors

 

[PGUY1]

Carbon every two weeks. GFO 3-4 weeks or until effluent shows no decrease compared to tank.

 

[unclejed2]

my flow is 150gph. i was told slower the better through reactors

You want slow flow through carbon and the GFO should have a slight tumbling action. More carbon/GFO is not always better. You should follow the guidelines for each media.

 

[Fishamatank]

I change each monthly. I run more carbon than is recommended for the water volume just so it lasts longer. I run the recommended amount of GFO because it gets some calcification build up and gets hard after about 4 weeks regardless of how hard I tumble it due to the location of my dosing pumps' outputs.

 

[McCrary]

Phos still testing in water even with phosban runnig

Unless your testing with a photometer (like a Hanna) you aren't going to get an accurate idea of what your phosphates are at. I used to change my GFO out about once a month and I would only run carbon for about 3 days every few weeks. Carbon gets used up a lot faster than GFO, at least it did for me.

 

[rsantangelo3@co]

Gotta run carbon 24/7 due to the facts I have leathers with my sps

 

[rsantangelo3@co]

GFO better to run than phos-sorb?

 

[OneReef]

Carbon every two weeks. GFO 3-4 weeks or until effluent shows no decrease compared to tank.

I wouldn't use that as an exact timeline of change. If your tank is pretty clean, you can get by with once a month carbon change and GFO every couple of months. Every tank is different. Although you are right on on the effluent change.

 

[PGUY1]

I was always told that carbon, if left in too long, would collect detritus and other stuff after a while and be no different than bioballs for producing nitrates. Wrong?