Help with running carbon

[supertank]

Hi all,
I was talking to my LFS guy, and he told me that since I have two different anemones (Green Bubble & Rock Flower) in my 75g tank, that it would be a good idea to run some carbon. Apparently anemones use chemical warfare to compete for space and food, so I'm told. They both have there own side of the tank. However, I understand that after a while, the carbon will start to realease phosphates back into the tank. I don't have a sump, or anything real fancy. I just run a protien skimmer, a couple power heads, and an empty bio-wheel filter only for water movement. I can put the carbon in a sock and place it in the bio-wheel, however, my question is would it be smart to run a phosphate sponge in the other side of the bio-wheel in order to combat this release?
One more question. Is it a good idea to run carbon all the time, or only once in a while? If all the time, how often should it be changed out?
I am relatively new to reefing, so I am open to any info you all might be willing to share.
Thanks in advance.

 

[bang guy]

You may get several opinions on this, all are probably valid. I have done quite a bit of experimentation on GAC (Granular Activiated Carbon). If it were me I would run it once a month for 48 hours. Toss the GAC after each use. After about 48 hours the carbon ends its usefulness in saltwater and adsorption crawls to a halt. There is no real harm in leaving it in all month, it will just be a biofilter most of the time.
The amount of phosphate GAC leaches is tiny. About the same amount one extra flake of fish food per day would add to your tank. It doesn't matter how old the GAC is, the leaching of phosphate begins immediately. The higher the quality of GAC the lower the PO4 content but IMO it's not worth paying double just for less Phosphate.

 

[reefkprz]

as far as I know anemone dont use chemical warfae at all, they rely on their stinging nematocyst. I believe this to be a rather persisten piece of Myth-information.
a BTA and a rock anemone are fine in a tank together, without the superflous running of carbon. I myself house a BTA with 2 rock anemone. currently the tank is skimmerless, and carbon-less. though I will be adding a skimmer again in the near future. my rock anemone is over 4 years old (in my tank and the BTA is well over 2 years in the same tank. my second rock anemone has only been in the tank for about 6 months so we wont consider that a real factor. all the anemone look healthy, eat well and have good color.
I agree with bang that the phosphate amount released will be negligable should you decide to run carbon.

 

[bang guy]

And I agree with Reefkprz that it is doubtful that Anemone battle via chemical warefare. Leathers are notorious for it but I've not heard that Anemone can.

 

[supertank]

Thank you all for the replies. I appreciate the feedback. I just got rid of my Red Slime problem, and I was just making sure it doesn't come back.
How about the Phosphate sponge. How often do you all run that, and for how long? I don't have a test kit for phosphates yet. That is on the top of my list of things to get right now.

 

[btldreef]

I don't believe the whole "chemical warfare" thing about anemones, but I have 2 in my tank and always run carbon.
I use ChemiPure Elite, used it in three different tanks and would not go without it. It has a phosphate remover already added to it. I change it every other month and have great results. I personally swear by it. Since you don't have a sump and your filtration is limited I'd recommend it, because even as the carbon starts to wear off, it would give you a little more biological filtration.