Activated Carbon Daily Or Not?
- Thread starter tld15
- Start date
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daniel411
Guest
The disadvantage of running carbon daily is that it will also remove some trace elements from the water. As well as act as a mechanical filter, which isn't always best for a reef tank set up.
It does have its purpose, and many reefs have been successful while running carbon 24-7.
It does have its purpose, and many reefs have been successful while running carbon 24-7.
zanemoseley
Active Member
Originally posted by SquishyFish
I suggest running activated carbon only for polishing the water or removing specific things from the water. When I say "specific things" (i know thats vauge) I mean if you have a problem..say a cucumber mildly poisions the tank and you want to pull out..run carbon and it will help soak it up. Something to that effect. Either to polish or remove a specific element from the water column.
Remember..48hrs and its basically inert (sp?)..anyway, its saturated. It will also start leaking the very toxins it was soaking up back into the water.
Squishy
Squishy I bought some seachem matrix carbon which is spherical carbon, are you trying to tell me it only lasts two days, I thought it lasted upward of a month of use
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thomas712
Guest
Originally posted by zanemoseley
Squishy I bought some seachem matrix carbon which is spherical carbon, are you trying to tell me it only lasts two days, I thought it lasted upward of a month of use
Depends on how much you use
Depends on how heavy the DOC's are in the water colum as well as minerals and other dissolved solids in the water.
Could be 2 days, could be a week, also depends on the brand of carbon that you are using. Most reefers will change the carbon often.
Those who run ozone will run with carbon 24/7.
FRom most of the reading I have done and the vast use of cabon that I have used, I would say a month isn't very realistic.
2 days to a week at most for many carbons.
THomas
zanemoseley
Active Member
well the seachem spherical carbon was quite expensive at my LFS it was $8 for a small 250ml bottle, does it matter if you use cheap carbon or expensive carbon, for instance the seachem was the carbon they had over with the saltwater supplies but they had cheaper marineland carbon with the freshwater supplies
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thomas712
Guest
Originally posted by zanemoseley
well the seachem spherical carbon was quite expensive at my LFS it was $8 for a small 250ml bottle, does it matter if you use cheap carbon or expensive carbon
Well I won't pretend I know like how many cups or quarts are in 250 ml, but that doesn't sound like much.
I can purchase on line for instance a quart of Kent carbon for about the same price you paid for yours. Double that about or even 4x that amount for even less cost to you overall. Do some shopping.
Yes it does matter what carbon you use, many are made very differently with different processes. High grade carbons like Diamond, Kent Reef carbon are less likely to leach phosphates back into your tank which would cause algae problems.
You can try different things, use a cheaper carbon but only for 24 hours to absorb some DOCs or toxic gases. then switch to the higher grades and/or do a water change.
When using carbon 24/7 I always have on hand some PO4 sponge material in case of phosphates from the carbon or other source.
THomas
