The reason I 'run' it 24/7 is because I have big mushrooms and a couple anenomes and early on in my reefing knowledge gathering I read about GAC and how it can help remove some of the toxins produced by those creatures, as well as help clear the water. I'm not a scientist and have no leg to stand on to debate after reading a lot on it (back then) so I decided to add it. After reading about HLLE (again not a scientist so erred on the side of caution), I decided I'd use it sort of passively in a filter cup in my sump instead of a sock (I don't run socks in the other slots) and let it run 24/7 since not all the water goes through it, eventually it will...that was my train of thought a while back and have just stuck with it because I do have crystal clear water. If that changes I may re-assess.
I didn't mean to get into this whole thing btw; just wanted to say removing something doesn't have to mean there's a negative, but adding something can add benefits. Actually, there are so many variables in a reef tank it's almost impossible to say (imo) if my last statement is always true as there can I suppose be a negative if removed if it was doing a job of removing toxins, etc. Sorry, I can't always see all the ends
Fair enough, I think at the end of the day most of what we do in this hobby is what you’re describing - form our own theories based on the information we have, and run our tanks accordingly. I respect that and do the same thing.
I have just gone back and forth on GAC in particular and kind of stopped using it just to keep things simple and haven’t noticed any effects yet, really. So I’m trying to find good hard info to change my mind.
I also have large anemones - a big magnifica and a large haddoni. All good so far without carbon but the haddoni was added recently …so we shall see.
My mag:
My haddoni: