How often should I run carbon

[Johnic]

I used to run carbon a lot but neglected to change out the media a lot. How often do folks run carbon and what benefits would it bring ?

 

[ohashimz]

I change carbon once a month.
If you running carbon in a reactor once a month is a good check but you can also judge based on the flow. If reactor flow went down it's an indicator the carbon is getting clogged.

 

[Johnic]

Can running carbon be bad and strip the tank ?


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[ohashimz]

Can running carbon be bad and strip the tank ?


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Not really unless if its aggressive and you running ultra low nutrients.
Do not use good quality carbon and check nutrients.
I never stop using carbon unless if I want to increase nutrients a bit in the system which is rarely the case (I run ultra low nutrients)

What carbon do you use?
How do you use it?
What's your nutrients and system details?

 

[bertoni]

I don't think reasonable amounts of carbon can cause any harm. Aquarium products tend to be fine, although very rarely bad carbon has gotten through quality control. Changing carbon once a month seems fine for most tanks.

 

[Johnic]

I don't think reasonable amounts of carbon can cause any harm. Aquarium products tend to be fine, although very rarely bad carbon has gotten through quality control. Changing carbon once a month seems fine for most tanks.

Gotcha. Just afraid of striping the tank of the good stuff.