Using carbon in canister filter with LR

clschaefer23

New Member
Greetings,
I just recently purchased 50 pounds of live rock from this site. I have it curing in a 10 gl q-tank that I have recently set up. I have a canister filter with carbon in my main 44 gl tank(as well as a Whisper filter-with carbon on the q tank) My question is....as I add the LR to my main tank, can I continue to use the canister filter? Is the carbon bad for the LR? I thought I read somewhere that carbon was bad for LR. Does anyone have any experience with this? Your input is appreciated.:D
 

c_bell

Member
I know there is a mixed opinion on this topic, but I use carbon in my magnum 350 and I have about 55lbs of LR in my 46 bow. Everything is doing fine the live rock is looking better then when I had it in my 55 gal. with the bio wheel 330. HTH
 

shadow678

Member
Most debate is over whether or not additional filtration should be used in addition to live rock, or if just the live rock and a protein skimmer would be adequate. A power filter with carbon is certainly not going to harm your live rock. With only 50 pounds of live rock in a 44 gallon tank, I would suggest leaving the filter on, unless you add another 25 pounds of rock and making your sand bed 4 inches deep and getting a high quality skimmer.
 

bigbonedee

Member
I believe the ratio of live rock to gallons is 2.2 lbs of live rock for every gallon of water . I would keep the carbon filtration going. I believe it only affects a minute percentage of micro elements on your live rock. In reef setups some types of fish suffer skin irritation from prolonged use of carbon.
 

shadow678

Member
For a self-sustaining modified Berlin system, the "rule of thumb" for rock is 1.25-1.75 pounds/gallon. It is safer to go on the high end, and could save you money and grief in the long run. the more rock, the better, but that is the average formula.
 
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