I run 24/7Carbon Poll: How often do you run it and how often do you change it?
What is Carbon Filtration?
"Commonly used in reef tanks, activated carbon is great for a whole variety of reasons, ranging for removal of general contaminants, dissolved organics, undesirable odors, yellowing pigments in the water, removing the build-up of toxins that corals and algae emit to fight each other, and much more. Other than manual removal via water changes, we would say the number one reason reefers use activated carbon is to remove yellowing pigments in the water. Water coloration is both a visual indicator of pollution building up in the water, but also make the corals drabber and can quickly reduce the overall power transfer from the light to the bottom of the tank by 30% or more. You may not think your water is yellow, but the best time to notice is actually when the lights are out the water should be crystal clear with near zero yellow tinting. Even better next time you do a water change fill up a bucket with a white bottom, and you'll see precisely how yellow water may be. It should be a crystal-clear with any color being present being a slight blue tint." - BulkReefSupply.com
So let's talk about it!
1. How often are you running carbon to filter your water?
2. How often are you replacing your carbon?
3. What size aquarium do you have?
4. Are you using a media reactor to filter your water through the carbon or some other method?
Up until recently I was only changing every 3 months. I am moving to a monthly after learning that the carbon loses effectiveness fairly quickly.
I have multiple freshwater plus a 32.5 saltwater.
No media reactor. I have not reached that level in the hobby yet.