Question about carbon

[juststartingout]

Hi Randy,
I was curious if carbon has a recommended "contact time"? I am on the last phase of designing my sump and I want to either run the water over a bag of carbon, or have a slot at the bottom of the sump to upflow the water through the carbon bag. If there is such a thing as contact time, I will need to keep that in mind regarding the amount of flow vs:"surface area" of the bag of carbon. What are your thoughts? Thanks again for your time!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

IMO, there is no importance to contact time since you do not need to deplete the water passing over it to any particular extent before replacing it with new "dirty"water. IOW, the higher the flow, the faster will new water with organics be brought to the carbon.

I use carbon in a cannister filter, typically, and think that's a good way.

 

[juststartingout]

Thanks again for your time and expertise!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You're welcome.

Happy Reefing.