2 carbon or not 2 carbon.

joeyhatch11 · Jan 21, 2015

Same here too. Never not used it. Never seen a problem from using it.

miggs76 · Jan 21, 2015

try using a bag of chemi-pure marine. I used to use carbon in a reactor, then stopped. The only difference I saw was that the water was a tad less clear. I now put a bag of the chemi-pure in the sump and the water is ultra clear. Plus after 3-4 months I just toss it out and put a new one it. They only cost like 14 bucks on Amazon.

that Reef Guy · Jan 22, 2015

miggs76 said:
try using a bag of chemi-pure marine. I used to use carbon in a reactor, then stopped. The only difference I saw was that the water was a tad less clear. I now put a bag of the chemi-pure in the sump and the water is ultra clear. Plus after 3-4 months I just toss it out and put a new one it. They only cost like 14 bucks on Amazon.

I have heard that Carbon looses it ability to Polish water at 30 Days.

So it would be pointless to go 3-4 Months.

Of course I have also heard people say 7 Days and 24 Hours too.

How long does it really last?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 22, 2015

that Reef Guy said:
I have heard that Carbon looses it ability to Polish water at 30 Days.

So it would be pointless to go 3-4 Months.

Of course I have also heard people say 7 Days and 24 Hours too.

How long does it really last?

Depends on what's in the water, but even if it has no organic matter in it, bacteria will likely coat it and block access to the GAC surfaces before too long.

I replace mine at about a month, but folks can judge based on the yellowness of the water, if they are able to detect any.

Skynyrd Fish · Jan 22, 2015

I've cut mine down to less than a cup for a 130 gallon system. You can always scale it back. With that being said currently I am FOWLR. Im getting everything ready for sps (I hope). No problems with my tangs.

miggs76 · Jan 25, 2015

that Reef Guy said:
I have heard that Carbon looses it ability to Polish water at 30 Days.

So it would be pointless to go 3-4 Months.

Of course I have also heard people say 7 Days and 24 Hours too.

How long does it really last?

Chemi-Pure seems to last longer than a month for me. I used to have a dual reactor with carbon and GFO but I ditched that. My water was too clean for my SPS. Colors were bland. Once I ditched the reactor I did notice the tint of the water changed. That is when I started throwing in a bag of the chemi-pure in the sump. I leave it in for about 3 months. I pay like 15 bucks on amazon so 60 a year isn't bad.

Reefnjunkie · Jan 25, 2015

I've never used carbon in the years I've kept SPS but did add it a few months ago when I had an ich outbreak and all my fish were dying. That is behind me and I'll pull it off line today.

I have always ran Purigen in a micron bag floating in my filter and that polishes the water well.

For an SPS tank I've never read anything that led me to the conclusion that the one way vs another (using it vs not)-Im talking conclusive reads/examples not opinions

acroaddict · Jan 25, 2015

I have always used carbon. I change it out at the beginning of every month.

Ike · Jan 25, 2015

I can't run carbon in my tank all the time. I struggle to keep nutrients up as it is, and I have consistently seen problems with STN and corals going pale if I run GAC 24/7, and I had some serious issues when I tried ROX. Personally, I feel GAC is best used once every month or two for a day or two to polish the water. At least in a lower nutrient SPS tank...

Tek · Jan 25, 2015

I stopped using carbon for over a year now and SPS have better PE. It has also been easier to keep nutrients detectable.

watdachuck · Jan 26, 2015

Skimmer and Ca Rx only with no chemical media. Not saying it is the way to go, just my two cents.

nanolax · Jan 27, 2015

Wow! Watdachuck, your tank looks awesome. Love the aquascape..

nanolax · Jan 27, 2015

I've used carbon and no carbon for previous tanks. I never noticed a difference tbh, though that might have been because I do big, fairly frequent water changes (20% per week). good luck!

kidtango · Jan 27, 2015

Triton recommends using Carbon, so I use it (BRS carbon). So far so good. I'm hoping to keep harmful concentration of chemical/metal from accumulating in my tank. I feed like crazy so corals and fish are super happy.

Shep · Jan 27, 2015

I know this is mostly talking about SPS but what about for LPS like acans? can your water be too clean?

blusop · Mar 15, 2015

I have been without Carbon for over 3 months now...better color and Polyp extension. ...my Refugium and Skimmer do all the heavy lifting in my system...plus i do water changes weekly.....i ran carbon for 5 years....and it worked....but once i got SPS i realized the benefits of not using it

AdamNC · Mar 15, 2015

Been using it in my tank for the past 10 months and have had no issues using it. I just use Fluval Carbon in an AC70. Was using Chemipure Elite for a while also with no issues.

Battlecorals · Mar 15, 2015

heathd.hd said:
Maybe I'm just buying I to the paranoid people lol. I asked adam .. battle corals and he said when he's used it he had damage so he stays away from it. With that being said I know his nutrients are on the low side. I'm probably just gonna stop use because I don't think I need it.

Well not so much direct damage that i could connect without any doubt. However if i ever felt the need to run carbon it was because i was worried that there was something i wanted out of my water quickly. So there was something that was bothering my sps already for sure. Nearly every time i ran carbon i experienced some other oddity that may or may not been related to it. Usually just some random colony rtn'ing or some other quirk that wasn't there before i ran the carbon. Same goes for gfo. Ultimately i haven't used any any carbon or gfo for many years now and its usually the first thing i suggest people stop when they are having issues with their sps.

and Im afraid your wrong my friend, my tanks are filthy by todays standards

no carbon, gfo, fuge, pellets, carbon dosing regimen, or any other modern trick. Just a good balance. my nutrients run high and my sps love me for it!

heathd.hd · Mar 16, 2015

Thanks for chiming in adam. Lol. Suprised you noticed this month's later but I'm glad you left your input. I've pulled my carbon and am only running a bit of gfo. Only because I was still seeing my bit of cyano. Which I seem to have gotten rid of for the time being. Pretty happy with my tank and what's been happening lately.