Run Carbon Intermittently ?

[DiverDude]

Just reading a jar of Kent carbon and it states that in marine aquaria, you should run carbon intermittently whereas you run it full time in a freshwater setup.

This puzzles me.

Do you run carbon ? If so, do you sometimes NOT run carbon -why ?

Noob needs to know !

[burtonpj48]

I run my carbon on a timer with the phosban reactor. The maxijet will turn on when the lights turn off. I wanted to try and prolong the intervals at which the carbon would be changed at.

[globaldesigns]

As you know I run Zeovit, and I run carbon 24/7

[kien]

I have been running carbon 24/7 since setting up my reef nine months ago. About a month ago I accidentally turned my carbon off for a week and ended up getting some STN/RTN. Once I turned the carbon back on the TN started to clear up and are all completely healed today. I'm a strong believer in carbon now :-)

[DiverDude]

This is what I expected to hear -which is why I was so surprised when the company (who is in the business of selling carbon) tells me to use LESS than one would expect. It got me thinking I was missing something.

I plan on running it anyhow but I'm still curious as to why Kent would say that. Maybe I'll email them (doubt I'd get a reply but....)

[blacknife]

I have heard.. and try to put into practice.. to use less but change more frequently.

[burblecut]

I run it 24/7 and change it once a month. No probs here!

[DiverDude]

I emailed Kent and got a timely reply from their lead tech guy !

He says:

"It actually depends on the type of a marine system. If you have just a
basic Marine tank with only fish then it isn't as big of a deal. If you
are keeping invertebrates then you only use carbon intermittently. Carbon
will pull out some essential trace minerals and other components of the
water that inverts require. These would be things such as Iodide,
organics, some metals, vitamins, etc. It is recommended to use carbon only
if you need to clarify the water or pull out medication, etc."

This would suggest that those who are running carbon full time are paying for the carbon and then paying to add trace elements that it removes. Of course it's also removing other toxins (if present) as well so that may be worth it itself.

A dilemma !

[Albertan22]

I've only ever run carbon when something looks odd in the tank (corals closed up, etc.), or I've done something like use epoxy in the tank somewhere. Otherwise, I only run phosban and have had no issues. Why spend the extra money changing out carbon all the time? :wink:

[fishytime]

if your planning on a mixed reef, then carbon 24/7(absorbs toxins released by corals fighting chemically)......yes it will pull some of that stuff out of the water, but so will your skimmer......thats what zeo additives are for:wink:

[Albertan22]

if your planning on a mixed reef, then carbon 24/7(absorbs toxins released by corals fighting chemically)......yes it will pull some of that stuff out of the water, but so will your skimmer......thats what zeo additives are for:wink:

True, I should qualify that I only have SPS, LPS and zoas in my tank. If I had softies in there I would definately be running carbon to curb the chemical warfare.

[Zoaelite]

After setting up my NP Vertex bio reactor I took my two little fishies full of carbon offline to save on electricity. BAD IDEA, I didn't really realize the importance of the stuff until I lost 3 monti danae colonies and 1/3rd of my zoas all started freaking out at me.

Bought a liter and a half, placed it all in bags in the baffles of my sump and after 2 days everything is slowly coming back. There are far to many toxins released in a fully mixed reef to not run it.

[no_bs]

Interesting. This must be the same for Chemi-pure. Seeing as it is a carbon based product. I had a bad experience when i took out the bag. Now i only replace it 2 weeks after i put the new bag in.

[BCOrchidGuy]

Chemi Pure is carbon based? I thought it was ion exchange. Hmmm

Doug

[kien]

not sure how reputable this source is (it was linked from Bulk Reef Supply). Good read on carbon though, if you haven't already read it. In summery, don't use carbon 24/7 and don't run it passively and don't use too much carbon and don't flow too much through your reactor. In other words, pretty much everything I'm currently doing wrong with my carbon use :lol:

http://web.archive.org/web/20000918065819/http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1998/june/features/1/default.asp

[DiverDude]

There certainly is a lot of variance in the advice that one can get. That was an interesting read and underscores just how much 'fluff' floats around forums. Although, even among the academics, you realize that not everyone had hard, experimental proof backing their recommendations.

People tend to recommend what has worked for them in the past and while that's fine, we need to realize that no 2 tanks are the same (volume, flow rate, bio load, livestock mix, lighting type, lighting intensity, etc. etc.) so to suggest to someone that they should do what you have done, isn't necessarily good advice.

So from all of this, I take that a) I need VERY little carbon for my 29 Gal tank b) I should run it perhaps for 1 day a week or maybe even only when I suspect something is up in the tank. c) putting it in my sump (pretty much my only option) isn't the ideal place for it because it's seeing ~300gph

[no_bs]

There certainly is a lot of variance in the advice that one can get. That was an interesting read and underscores just how much 'fluff' floats around forums. Although, even among the academics, you realize that not everyone had hard, experimental proof backing their recommendations.

People tend to recommend what has worked for them in the past and while that's fine, we need to realize that no 2 tanks are the same (volume, flow rate, bio load, livestock mix, lighting type, lighting intensity, etc. etc.) so to suggest to someone that they should do what you have done, isn't necessarily good advice.

So from all of this, I take that a) I need VERY little carbon for my 29 Gal tank b) I should run it perhaps for 1 day a week or maybe even only when I suspect something is up in the tank. c) putting it in my sump (pretty much my only option) isn't the ideal place for it because it's seeing ~300gph

Valid point, but we try and use this info as a starting point and experiment with this.

[BlueTang<3]

grades of carbon make a big difference recently switched from fluval carbon which was a bigger pebble to bulk reef supply rox carbon and noticed much better pylop extension

[Dez]

+1 on Wes' comment. I'm on ROX carbon and I use very little (1 cup) in my system (approx 340 gallons water volume) and it seems to me that my water is pretty clear. When I siphon water out into a white pail, the water is still clear and not green like my old systems were without carbon. I haven't lost a coral yet *knock on wood* and the system has been up since Aug 09.