With all the talk of the reduction of skimming because it could deplete some valuable nutrients from your reef system, I am now wondering if there is any usefulness in carbon. I have'nt used any in quite awhile, although I do have some. Any opinions?

i use carbon on both of my tanks on a -on again-off again basis, carbon can and will remove nutrients from the water, along with leaching back out and possible causing yellow water if it is left in your system too long


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Whoever invented salt water aquariums should be shot for taking all my money...everyday, oh well gotta have something to do!

I use carbon on and off in my reef as well.
Just fill a nylon mesh bag and tie it off securely, and drop it in the sump. I use it in this passive fashion now, and it works well. I used to "force" water through the carbon, but if the grains move around they end up eroding and placing carbon dust in the system. Also, the "bag-n-drop" method is much easier!

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Greg

I use carbon fairly often as I've been having bad algae problems. Water changes alone weren't doing the trick. I also added a lot of caulerpa which gives off a by product at night that makes the water yellow. Carbon removes this as well as some of the excess nutrients that cause problem micro algaes. I usually run it in a mesh bag in a gutted emperor filter(bio media removed...just use it for water flow. I only leave it in for a day or two....really, carbon's adsorbsion(sp?) is used up probably in a matter of minutes...maybe hours. My water has been looking at lot better since I started doing it, but I had problems that necessitated me using it. If my system was problem free and I didn't need carbon I wouldn't use it. Why try to fix something that's not broken?

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I died once, but I got better

I use carbon in my systems all the time . It keeps the water crystal clear (atleast I attribute this to the carbon) I use power filter mesh bags , put a couple spoons of carbon in it , fold the top and stick a toothpick through it to hold it closed and drop it in the sump . I change it about every 2 weeks . I think if it goes much longer than that , it starts leaching things back into the system.

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In this hobby patience is not a virtue,,,,,its mandatory.

First I would recommend Activated Carbon that will not leach prostates...I mean phosphates and nitrates. [img]/ubb/lol.gif[/img]

I use it now and then also in a mesh bag to give my water a boost when it doesn't look all that crystal clear...I also use it to pre-filter my tap water along with Phoszorb. My RO/DI unit is not quite working still...I think I may need a booster...

I have noticed however, that when I do use the AC... I get a negative reaction from both my toadstool and colt...go figure!

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The Nut!

Alex's Ocean Realm
GO FOR A DIVE!!!
http://home.earthlink.net/~amariquit/thereef

All you want to know about activated carbon in a reef tank (articles by Richard Harker and Albert Thiel, and a GAC brands review)
http://www.wyx.com/iheo/tank/activated-carbon.htm

Joaco



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Joaco's saltwater webpage Updated 12th June 2000

Originally posted by ivand:
With all the talk of the reduction of skimming because it could deplete some valuable nutrients from your reef system, I am now wondering if there is any usefulness in carbon. I have'nt used any in quite awhile, although I do have some. Any opinions?

I use GAC by Peter Wilken's it works great! I have never had a problem with this product. Don't reduce skimming it is needed with salt water, fine tune the skimmer if you can to produce a better skimmate.They remove more bad than good, and you can alway's replace what ever is removed.We need to remember we are dealing with an enclosed ecosystem,where water quality can degrade very quickly due to the accumulation in the aquarium, which is a small amount of space/and water compared to the amount of life we have in the tank.Greg