How long does it take for activated carbon to clarify tank?

arking_mark

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Has anyone ever tracked how fast a carbon can clarify a cloudy/discolored tank?

I'm using 32oz of Rox 0.8 activated carbon on a 105gal system through a reactor with roughly 120gal/hr flow.
 

Timfish

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I can't say I've ever timed it but I expect GAC to at least make a noticable difference overnight, say 12 hours. There are variables and depending on what's making it cloudy GAC may not have any impact.
 

outhouse

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depends on why the tank is cloudy to begin with. fixing this issue first should be priority before using carbon.
 
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arking_mark

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depends on why the tank is cloudy to begin with. fixing this issue first should be priority before using carbon.

The tank is 9 months old and only uses roller mat and a part-time skimmer.

Looking through it lengthwise, it seems to be less than clear with a slight off white tint.

It also seems to have quite a bit of floating dust. This may be due to the DSB (Figi Pink), sand sifting gobies, and 50x tank flow.

I was thinking about getting a UV sterilizer to help with clarification but thought I see how well activated carbon would help.
 
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homer1475

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I add fresh carbon when the tanks starts to get that low tide smell, and starts to get that yellow tint to the water. I run rox 0.8 in a reactor @ 1tbs per 10G. I can visually see it getting clearer in a few hours, and the low tide smell is gone by 24 hours.
 
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