How often do you run carbon?

[brooke]

Just a general question, to see how often everyone runs carbon. I've seen differnet opinions, where some use it 24/7, others use it sometimes, and some not at all. What have you found from using it the way you do?

[SeaMe]

I don't use carbon.

[Reefland]

If I could find a good place to run it I would run it 24/7 with partial weekly changes. Unfortunately I have not been able to find a good place to put it yet...

[ghofmann]

I chose sometimes because I do biweekly water changes of 25% to 30% and usually about 4 or 5 days before I do my water changes I add carbon to my sump and run it 24/7 to help get some of the nasties out. Since I run a mixed reef with leathers, LPS and a couple of SPS corals I believe that the carbon helps get some of the toxins released by the soft corals that inhibit the growth of the SPS out of the water column. When I switch the tank over to SPS dominated I will run carbon 24/7.

[Samper]

24/7....pantyhose method

[My2heartboys]

24/7....pantyhose method

Hey, that one works.

Anne

[My2heartboys]

Just a general question, to see how often everyone runs carbon. I've seen differnet opinions, where some use it 24/7, others use it sometimes, and some not at all. What have you found from using it the way you do?

I have it going 24/7 in my penguin filter, although I have had a friend tell me that after about 4 hours it is used up and is basically there for biomedia--not sure. In my fluval I use Pura Complete and it has done real well in keeping the nitrates down for the month that I have had it in. It is supposed to be good for 6 months--we'll see although probably will change it out sooner.

Anne

[James]

Stopped using it. Let my protein skimmer do that job, unless I want to polish the water.

[SeaMe]

...although I have had a friend tell me that after about 4 hours it is used up and is basically there for biomedia--not sure.
Anne

You friend is very right. Carbon is about 99% used up the first 24 hours.

[Reinhold]

I've been running carbon 24/7 on my newest tank with a HOT Magnum 250, but I'm ready to give up on it because of microbubbles continually coming out of the Magnum. I don't want to mess with hoses and under-stand canisters. Any other good ideas for carbon filtration on a small (54 gallon) tank?

[Ninong]

Any other good ideas for carbon filtration on a small (54 gallon) tank?

It is best to place the carbon in a spot where the water will flow through it. However, you can still obtain good results with passive placement. For a tank of your size, I would suggest approximately 3/4 cup of GAC in a mesh bag placed in the sump -- if you have one -- or behind the live rock structure in the tank if you don't have a sump. In either case, try to choose a spot where the carbon will get as much water flow as possible.

Be sure to rinse the carbon well with warm tapwater before using it to get rid of carbon dust. How long you leave it in your aquarium is up to you. Some people who use carbon run it for only 24 hours once a month. Others run it 24/7/365. I choose to run it all the time.

I have a 120-gal tank (approximately 105 gallons of actual water including the sump). I use two mesh bags of carbon in my sump in a spot where the water must pass through the bags. I put approximately one cup of carbon in each bag. I change out one bag every three to four weeks. That way there will always be one bag that is relatively fresh. One thing that you can do to refresh your carbon is to take the bag out of the tank and run warm tapwater through it. This will remove a lot of the absorbed junk (not the adsorbed, just the absorbed). This helps extend it's useful life. To tell you the truth, I have only done this once or twice myself. It seems more convenient to simply change out one of the bags every three weeks or so.

I realize you are well aware of the difference between absorption and adsorption but just for the benefit of others reading this thread I think I should point out that absorption refers to the physical trapping of particles and adsorption refers to the chemical bonding of organics and other compounds. It is the adsorption function that will still work even with passive placement of the carbon. You won't get nearly as much absorption of particulate matter unless the water is being forced to flow through the carbon. I wouldn't be too concerned about absorption if I were you because it is the adsorption that makes GAC uniquely beneficial. And, of course, it is the adsorption that gives some hobbyists pause and causes them to avoid carbon altogether. Rather than avoid it altogether, I think those folks who have reservations would be better advised to run it at least one day per month to remove organics that would otherwise adversely affect the water clarity.

As far as the claims that carbon is "used up" within a matter of hours are concerned, I think those claims are grossly exaggerated. While every tank is different, I don't believe that carbon is "used up" in the average system in less than two to three weeks, sometimes longer. This assumes that the tank has been running carbon and that the amount of carbon is proportional to the water volume in the system. I suggest approximately one pint of carbon per 100 gallons of water in the system. In my particular case, I like to split this up between two mesh bags so that I can change each bag on a different schedule. I guess if I were more ambitious I would change each bag every two weeks but I usually just change each bag every three weeks or so.

Because there are so many conflicting claims about the useful life of GAC, I purchased Salifert's "C Profi-Test" to actually test my GAC. This test is used to measure the remaining adsorption capabilities of carbon that you are already running in your tank. When I used to run only one bag (1 cup) of GAC in my tank, I found that it was exhausted after only 10 days or so. Then after I started running two bags (1 cup each), I found that it took three or four weeks to be exhausted. (The manufacturer claims 4-6 weeks but I think this is pushing it.)

I suppose it's possible that if one were to place an insufficient quantity (less than 2 cups per 100 gallons) of carbon into a system that has been running without carbon for several months, then it might be posssible to exhaust the adsorption capability of the carbon in a matter of days. Perhaps this has led to the claims by some folks that carbon is exhausted in 24 hours or less. IME this has not been the case.




P.S. -- On a side note: If the carbon is removing the iodine from my tank, then the daily feeding of my three fish more than replaces it because I have never dosed iodine and yet my tankwater has never measured less than NSW levels of iodine.

[Reinhold]

Thanks Ninong. I could place a mesh bag of carbon in the outlet chamber of my Remora skimmer. It would be exposed to constant water flow there.

Does anyone have experience with the Magnum 250 HOT canister? It's a nice, easy-to-use unit, but the microbubbles are driving me crazy. I've lubed all of the "O" rings of this new unit with silicone lubricant, checked all of the connections and still, there seems to be a constant leak of air into the canister which is dispersed as microbubbles.

[Reefland]

Thanks Ninong. I could place a mesh bag of carbon in the outlet chamber of my Remora skimmer. It would be exposed to constant water flow there.

Does anyone have experience with the Magnum 250 HOT canister? It's a nice, easy-to-use unit, but the microbubbles are driving me crazy. I've lubed all of the "O" rings of this new unit with silicone lubricant, checked all of the connections and still, there seems to be a constant leak of air into the canister which is dispersed as microbubbles.

Sounds like the same problem I had when I tried to set up an external closed loop!

[charlie]

Let me throw another question in here for grins. I hope you don't mind brooke
Lately I have noticed that some of the colors of my corals, especially the blues, haven't been as vibrant as they once were. Would running carbon, for say 12 hour a day, when the lites are out in the main display, help this out?

[Ninong]

Lately I have noticed that some of the colors of my corals, especially the blues, haven't been as vibrant as they once were. Would running carbon, for say 12 hour a day, when the lites are out in the main display, help this out?

There are many factors that directly affect coral coloration but I don't believe carbon is one of them. It will, however, improve water clarity and that could affect your perception of coral coloration just as blues will look bluer in an acrylic or Starphire glass aquarium compared to a regular greenish-tinted glass tank.

[scubadude]

Depending on how heavy I skim, feed, do w/c's etc. I like running carbon 24/7 but only if I can change it monthly, if not then I will leave it out until I can afford to replace it. But I voted sometimes Cuz that is one of the things I dont consider to be as important as say SG or Temp or PH, and unless I have a water clarity issue its just not high on the priority list and have many times gone with out it because of my schedule or because I didnt have any on hand or couldnt find the type of carbon I wanted etc etc.

This will remove a lot of the absorbed junk (not the adsorbed, just the absorbed).

So is there a way to remove the adsorbed junk? Like cleaning it then heating it in an oven to like recharge it?

[Ninong]

So is there a way to remove the adsorbed junk? Like cleaning it then heating it in an oven to like recharge it?

No, I don't think you can clean off the adsorbate because it is chemically bound (molecular bonding). At least I've never heard of this working with GAC.

[scubadude]

No, I don't think you can clean off the adsorbate because it is chemically bound (molecular bonding).

Well correct me if im wrong Ninong, but isnt heating GAC a form of chemical reaction? Maybe a ques. for RHF. Ninong I know there is some media that you can recharge by cooking in the oven....help me refresh my memory bro, was it phosphate remover?

[Ninong]

Well correct me if im wrong Ninong, but isnt heating GAC a form of chemical reaction?

No. I wouldn't call heating it a chemical reaction. If you wanted to "clean" it with muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid), that would be a chemical reaction of sorts. Heating it would only cause moisture to evaporate. I don't think converting a liquid to a gas should be considered a chemical reaction. If you're trying to get it to release some of the adsorbate, you might have to heat it to 1200 degrees Fahrenheit or thereabouts. And even then, I'm not sure what you could release by this method because all you're doing is converting liquids or solids to gasses.

Maybe a ques. for RHF. Ninong I know there is some media that you can recharge by cooking in the oven....help me refresh my memory bro, was it phosphate remover?

Randy has already addressed this subject numerous times. IIRC, he says all of those ideas are old wives' tales or mythinformation from the manufacturers. One of the manufacturers claims that you can regenerate their phosphate sponge product by heating it in the oven at 450 F. Randy says "it ain't so." He said the temperature would have to be much, much higher than that. At least that's the way I remember those threads.

You could search his forum if you like but I know that Randy doesn't think much of regenerating anything in the oven.

[scubadude]

LOL well I guess there was a reason why I forgot it. Thanx bro