To carbon or not to carbon? that is the question

carlos413

Member
I have a freshwater tank that is themed after the amazon river basin. I did the reserch and got my stocking of fish from that area. Anyway I use blackwater extract in order to replicate water conditions in this area. I never use carbon in my freshwater tanks because I find it useless. It will absorb all the blackwater extract and my water is crystal clear. All my test are good. Can't remember the last time a fish died in my fw tank. I am sure that will change in sw tank lol. So should I use carbon on sw tank? & why?
 

reefforbrains

Active Member
The easy answer is that IT WORKS.
Saltwater livestock is much more sensitive to contaminants than fresh water livestock.
 

nuro

Member
i say yes. i ran my tank w/out carbon forthe first 6 months i had it and i can tell you personally that the water is much clearer when running (good) carbon. take not that it may have too much of a cleaning effect for soem corals that grow in "dirtier" water
 

carlos413

Member
Originally Posted by nuro
http:///forum/post/3088392
i say yes. i ran my tank w/out carbon forthe first 6 months i had it and i can tell you personally that the water is much clearer when running (good) carbon. take not that it may have too much of a cleaning effect for soem corals that grow in "dirtier" water
How often u replace it?
 

reefforbrains

Active Member
Me personally I never run it for any real duration. I just keep it on hand.
When I DO use it I just leave it in for about a full day then toss out.
 

loopy101

Member
i do not run carbon in my sw tank and my water is very clear... what works great for one tank may not work for the next. i do have carbon on hand though just in case i need to use it
i have read that some will use carbon couple days a month, some dont use it at all, and some just use in case of a emergency...
 

reefforbrains

Active Member
I should add, many people leave it in for much much longer but I am of the school that once it pulls its capacity, then it will just be leaching back and worthless to keep in the tank. Even counterproductive at some point.
Mind you this will take much longer than a single day to get to such a level, but I just never saw a need to leave it in for long periods.
JMO
 
E

eric b 125

Guest
i ran carbon on my 125 for quite some time and the water was crystal clear. i changed it 1-2X/month, and rinsed it weekly. before changing the carbon, i would rinse it thouroughly, because if there's any amount of carbon dust when you put it in the filter, your tank will turn black. the reason i stopped running carbon was because i read that the use of carbon may directly correlate with HLLE, esp with sensitive fish. my fish were/are healthy specimens (knock on wood) but i wasnt willing to risk the lives of these guys. i may start running it again, but probably only for 2 days/wk to keep water pristine.
 

stanlalee

Active Member
I didn't run carbon for a long time just because my tank looked perfectly clear and did well without it but facts are facts and GOOD carbon pulls out alot of organics and discoloration so I run it in a reactor now. Like most things in saltwater tanks you dont NEED it (you dont need a skimmer, real live rock ect) but every little bit helps. I replace mine anywhere from two weeks to a month depending on how much I use.
 

nuro

Member
i change it when i change all my filters; every 3 ro 4 weeks. I run it constantly but as u see above alot of people dont.
 

trouble93

Member
I run carbon 24/7 in all my tanks. I do change it out about every two weeks or so. Down side is you will strip away some essential elements, but with weekly water changes you put them back anyway.
 

nuro

Member
Originally Posted by trouble93
http:///forum/post/3089308
I run carbon 24/7 in all my tanks. I do change it out about every two weeks or so. Down side is you will strip away some essential elements, but with weekly water changes you put them back anyway.
he brings up a good point, if your one to shy away from water changes running it 24/7 may not be the best idea. I always run carbon but im religious about weekly water changes.
 

xcali1985

Active Member
Originally Posted by rbcjoker
http:///forum/post/3090341
For those folks that don't use carbon, what do you use instead?
I ran carbon for the first 2.5 months of my tank. It IMHO helped keep the diatom bloom to a min. I have since switched my canister filter to a water polisher and filter setup and have noticed little difference in water clarity. I have made the commitment to do WCs and swap out carbon/polisher every other week. Just to keep things in check. When I run the carbon my nitrates are almost 0.
 
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