Carbon usage

[computrgk]

Ok well even though i'm not a new hobbyist i thought maybe this would be usful to everyone. what does carbon media do in a saltwater tank exactly give me the good/bad of it as well as reasons to use and how long to use it I know in my old fresh tank i used it at all times for bacteria purposes but not sure about using it in my SW tank and have never bothered to find out if i should

don't ask me why

maybe i fgured it was unnecessary anyway give me your input folks.

 

[weberian]

Same as fresh. Chemical removal (or chemical filtration) and this in turn usually helps the water clarity. I don't think many people run carbon full time. I've heard that if you're going to start using it, you should start out with small amounts at first, so as not to shock the system.

 

[chipmaker]

From what I have been told the product called Purigen does it all and no charcoal is needed.......and its long lasting and reuseable after a recharge bath........supposedly it polishes the water, removes nitrate, nitrite and ammonia and other junk..........I have not used it yet but have a container of it that I do intend to try. Anyone have any experiences with purigen?

 

[ccws]

I am using carbon full time. I have a friend who does it and has good results. I am a newb with no corals yet so what the heck do I know

 

[airforceb2]

Carbon only have a life span of 10-14 days in a salt tank. It can help house bacteria and reduce nitrates but the main purpose of carbon in a salt tank is to catch the smallest particles in the water. Carbon has micro-pores that catch stuff that makes the water cloudy. HTH

 

[kdfrosty]

Yup I use carbon to buffer the water once every couple of weeks. I fill my canister filter's container with carbon and run it for a full day.

 

[computrgk]

thats very interesting about the span of usefullness or carbon that Purigen does it clean the water as well can you run that and charcoal so many questions and i'm sure someone has an answer

 

[soo high]

well carbon make the water clear so it has to be taking stuff out so yea it clean the water i use it the other day and it look like i had no water in the tank good stuff

 

[airforceb2]

I have never seen the Purigen in action so I can't speak for it my self. I'm an old fashioned guy...if carbon works...why try to fix it?

 

[mudplayerx]

Carbon can form many covalent bonds with charged ions. Even after all of the electrons are used to chemically remove waste from the water, the millions of small pores in the carbon will further trap detritus on a mechanical level.
Makes your water clearer and helps remove nitrates and toxic chemicals released from corals.

 

[airforceb2]

Originally Posted by mudplayerx
Carbon can form many covalent bonds with charged ions. Even after all of the electrons are used to chemically remove waste from the water, the millions of small pores in the carbon will further trap detritus on a mechanical level.
Makes your water clearer and helps remove nitrates and toxic chemicals released from corals.

Gotta get all scientific. I had the mechanical part down. I wasn't even going to try talking on the chemical level. Been too many years since I had a chemistry class.

 

[computrgk]

so if i were to use carbon/Charcoal would i need to change every 2 weeks or just rinse like with freshwater my tank is incredibly clear as is and one of my filters is running carbon i'm just thinking of adding some nitrate reducer stuff as a filter media and was wondering if the two would double the process or if the would counter act one another i'm not sure if this is even worth it as i'm probably going to be going with a fuge or wet/dry filter in a few months but i guess it would behoove me to get the nitrates down now so the new filtration won't have to be adjusted to do extra work right away then changed to maintaing later i'd rather set it up to maintain right off the bat . or am i just way off base on that.

 

[airforceb2]

How high are your nitrates? Do you have a skimmer?
You can't rinse the carbon at all. It needs to be replaced.

 

[computrgk]

nitrates are around 20-40 between there somewher no skimmer yet funds are a little low "Colllege Student" which is ok as i'm not going to coral yet right now i'm just FOWLR so the nitrates don't worry me alot now but i would like to reduce cheaply if even that means just temporarily until i can filtration to keep it reduced that will be fine thats why i'm looking into a nitrate remover i know there is stuff i can use in conjunction with a skimmer but i'm looking into actual filter media stuff they have at my LFS it's like 16 bucks and i cannot think for the life of me what it is called sorry guess i should have specified that ahead of time i knew someone would ask that question

 

[airforceb2]

Save all your money and get a skimmer. Skimmers are needed in FOWLR tanks too. They skim out the protein waste from the fish. Your nitrates will never go down to 0 without one.

 

[blitz99]

get a skimmer, yes... but dont spend big bucks... look on the classifieds here and see if you have a local reefer website... you can find some nice deals there.

 

[murph145]

i run chemi pure carbon in my 2 fluval 404s on my 100 gallon reef tank which houses many corals from softies to lps to sps and all do great.... i run it 24/7 and change out the carbon every 6-8 weeks..... the better the quality of carbon the longer you can go between changes .... chemi-pure states its good up to 3 months on the container but i dont give it that long since i have a lot of creatures in my tank i cut the time in half.... they also claim u dont have to do water changes as often but i still do my 10% every 2 weeks....
i would deffinately get a skimmer you can find some cheaper ones for your tank and you will be surprized on how much crap will be skimmed out..... some of the smelliest stuff you can think of.... now imagine that in your water.... you really dont want it in the water so a good skimmer is worth every penny even in a fish only tank.... high levels of nitrate will cause fish undo stress and lead to a high case of illnesses like fin rot and ick....
good luck!
im a fan of running carbon!

 

[computrgk]

ok i found a hang over filter/skimmer combo for 50 bucks would this serve for temporary relief of nitrates or is this a POS

 

[airforceb2]

POS. Look on auction sites for AquaC Remora or Excalibur. Or look for a local reefer forum. You are bound to find one for under $100.

 

[chipmaker]

You can get a coralife Super SKimmer 65 (Needle wheel technology) for under $90 bucks new that will skim the socks off a Remora or a CPR bak-pak.........