CARBON OR NO CARBON the final answer!

[briansreeftank19660426]

Can some one help me on the RIGHT answer about carbon . my understanding is it takes out all good and bad things in water,so having it is good as long as u add good trace elements back in weekly? does this hold true or should i ditch my carbon for my mixed tank .live rock some anemones and fish..sand
SET UP 5 WEEKS OLD
29 GALLON GLASS TANK
2 INCHES OF FINE SAND
3 PIECES OF LIVE ROCK
150WATT TRONIC HEATER
FLUVAL 304 WITH BIOIBALLS ,NOODLES,CHEMIPURE CARBON, COARSE PAD AND FINE PAD ON TOP
SEACLONE PROTEIN SKIMMER
CUSTOM SEALIFE 9WATT UV STERLIZER WITH TINY POWER HEAD DOES TANK 2X PER HOUR
2 15 GALLON AQUA CLEAR 201 POWER HEAD FILTERS IN EACH CORNER

 

[jakob4001]

you need to give iether more information or your post was kind of confusing...if you are going to do as a reef set up, then carbon 24/7 combined w/ your skimming for that size tank would most likely remove all/most necessarry items from the water...on a larger reef tank, running the carbon 24/7 w/ the skimmer probably would not have much of a negative effect if you provide regular dosings...this WILL simply be an issue you will have ask around/research and decide for YOURSELF though

 

[predator]

I personally run carbons but not all the time. They do in fact take out the good with the bad, but you can always put more good back in. I have a custom built sump that has two nice canister filters. I keep carbons and a phosphate spounge in them, but do not run them 24/7 ( they have ball valves so I can cut off the water flow throught them). But there are plenty of people who run them all the time with great success. But at the same time there are plenty of people who never run them who have the same success.
It's up tp you. Play around with it and see what works best for you. <a href="http://hometown.aol.com/flmeangl44/index.html" target="_blank">CLICK HERE TO SEE MY REEF.</a>