Using carbon = Phosphate = lost trace elements?

[manix man]

Just like to know your view on using activated carbon in a sps tank. I have refrained from using it for a long time for the issues that is leaks phosphate and takes trace elements out the water.

Should I be worrying about this. Many carbons say they won't release phosphate is this true? Does the carbon make a big difference to trace elements?

What is the best brands to use, we in the UK get the usual suppliers such as tropic marin, seachem, kent, etc.

Presently the main filteration on my tank is Deltec protein skimmer and vodka dosed nitrate filter + GFO + live rock.

 

[jbanks]

I've never had a problem using carbon.. I think it helps overall. Anything media can be a phosphate/nitrate trap if not well maintained over time. I vodka dose as well and over a few months it removed any detectable phosphate from my system.. In addition, Carbon can help remove a yellowing of your water that Vodka dosing can cause over time.. A good practice with carbon is to either run it in a reactor and change it out every two weeks or run it in a mesh bag and kneed the bag once a week with your hands to free any build up on the carbon.. You can change this out every month.. As for the brand, I don't think it matters...

As for trace elements, the corals ad fish will absorb those over time.. Just keep up your water changes on a regular schedule. That will take care of replenishing your trace elements.

 

[Felixc]

Good questions, I was worried for the same reasons for years and recently have changed my method of using carbon. Based on many threads that I've read, I've decided to:

1.Switch from commonly used brands like Kent, Seachem, Marineland, to BRS Redox carbon - considered to be high quality and most efficient carbon for the hobby
2.Use much less carbon but change it out more often. On 120g system, I use 1/4 cup in a filter bag in high flow. I change this out once a week.
3.Perform 20% water change every two weeks to replenish trace elements


My thinking behind this method is to minimize sudden and rapid absorbtion by using smaller amount. Keeping the absorbtion rate more constant by replacing the carbon weekly, this will also prevent slime and bacteria build up which will reduce the carbon effectiveness. Using a high grade carbon will reduce phoshate leaking back into the system. My SPS has never looked better, however I can't contribute this result to just carbon, I also imply other filtering methods such as phoshate reactor and NP pellet reactor.

 

[manix man]

I had a look at the tropic marin site and they also sell this as a dual phos/carbon replacement

http://www.tropic-marin.com/web/english/homepage.html

Any ideas if it is worth using, I guess it works out a lot more expensive then carbon.

We can't get BRS in the UK presently..............

 

[Bullredchaser]

Carbon is a must for SPS tanks IMO.It removes Gelvin giving the water better clarity and light penetration.It removes toxins that corals may be leaching as well as protect the aquarium from outside contamination such as pesticides being sprayed in or around your house.It removes foul odor from aquarium which makes wife happy.And removes Dissolved Organic Compounds.If you decide to use try it go very small at first as it will shock your corals from increased light or DOC change.

 

[LifeAquatic]

Ive been on the fence about carbon for some time. Ive always ran carbon passively. The last carbon I used was Kent brand carbon. It works great for making really clear water! However I did notice a problem. It seems running carbon 24/7 for a month made my SPS and LPS colors wash out a little. I always do weekly water changes so I figured all the trace elements were being put back into the water. I decided to pull the carbon after one month use and my colors came back the next day! Especially in my Acans! Im not sure if it was the carbon but it seems likely. I think the carbon was pulling out whatever the corals needed to color up. I havent put new carbon in since. I did upgrade my skimmer though and the water is much clearer then before. I have no facts other then visual refference.

 

[t4zalews]

^^^ Ditto with me, I was using ROX carbon and High Capacity GFO in my SPS tank...I ran it 24/7 and the colors of my SPS went off the map. My red planet went from this-->

To this, notice how all the green is now white-->

and my lovely vailda from this-->

to this, nasy color-->

I've since removed all carbon and GFO and my colors are coming back..all the green in the red planet came back and my valida is SLOWLY coming back. I actually saw green polyps today.

 

[dublo8]

this might help as well. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1891423 Its just some questions I had about carbon since I also have never had the need to use it before but I was experimenting with some water change stuff. What I noticed litereally within a couple days of carbon was that I had algae growth that I have never had. I also had a rise in phosphates. I am still unsure if this is because of the carbon or the new light that I added. However, I can definetly tell you that the carbon made that tank sparkle even my new hair algae looked better than ever.... I am not saying this is directly related as the new light is waaay brighter than the previous but it still concerns me that phosphates were on the rise after using the carbon.