Do you use activated carbon at all times, intermittently or never?

[Toob]

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:

 

[TokenReefer]

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:

Your tank and corals look fantastic! I get re-visiting something like this and I may come back here as well but I'm hesitant to change things unless there's a need to (maybe that'll bite me in the #$$ one day, idk).

Mind if I ask, why'd go back and forth on it? Again, I'm just hesitant to change for no reason. Was there a reason you'd want to make a switch when you did? I'm also looking for good info here

 

[rtparty]

You’re using ozone without carbon? I thought Randy said the effluent water will have lots of harmful bromides (or was it bromines) if it wasn’t passed over carbon after being ozonized but I could be wrong.

I think Randy also demonstrated the clearest water was achieved with Ozone and carbon. I run both (and UV, actually a catalytic UV for even more clarity).

I notice clearly detrimental responses with my carpet anemones when I don’t run it or let it go too long without changing it. Probably some allelopathy but who knows for sure.

The Randy article linked earlier had no clear explanation or evidence that ozone byproducts were actually harmful. All theory and the only harm was when ozone was dosed at extremely high levels. Far higher than most, if not all, any aquarium and certainly way higher than my dosage.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would not treat DOC as a single thing in most contexts. Some you may want and some you may not want. I would not use GAC just to reduce DOC.

I’d use it to reduce yellowing, to export toxins, to allow a good place for bacteria to grow and be exported, to reduce organics that might drive cyanobacteria and other bacteria in places you do not want them (perhaps including on corals), and to export organics that may otherwise accumulate endlessly.

 

[Toob]

I would not treat DOC as a single thing in most contexts. Some you may want and some you may not want. I would not use GAC just to reduce DOC.

I’d use it to reduce yellowing, to export toxins, to allow a good place for bacteria to grow and be exported, to reduce organics that might drive cyanobacteria and other bacteria in places you do not want them (perhaps including on corals), and to export organics that may otherwise accumulate endlessly.

I guess I was just hoping there was better info out there. I don't expect you to have all the answers, though you often do but besides yellowing, the rest of the reasons aren't super scientific...

I don't necessarily want more surface bacteria, I don't think it's needed and if anything it puts downward pressure on PH. Jake Adams has talked about this, and many coral farmers are now minimizing live rock and sand (Leonardo's reef, one example).

Also, after reading Feldman, how do I know my tank even has excessive DOCs, whatever they may be? What if the specific biome of my tank results in my DOCs being particularly low, and carbon would cause them to be even lower? That seems just as plausible as the reverse based on the examples shared in those articles.

Lastly..."toxins" ? *Maybe* getting rid of stuff that *might* be bad and *might* be present just doesn't seem like a super compelling reason to me.

I am not saying running carbon does harm either (I don't think it does), and it certainly works for yellowing. But I can solve that problem running it for one day every 3-4 months. There are plenty of fantastic examples of tanks and coral farms that use carbon, and plenty of examples that do not use carbon. In my case running it 24/7 simply isn't worth the extra maintenance chore and extra husbandry variable. I'm always seeking to minimize both of those things!

Your tank and corals look fantastic! I get re-visiting something like this and I may come back here as well but I'm hesitant to change things unless there's a need to (maybe that'll bite me in the #$$ one day, idk).

Mind if I ask, why'd go back and forth on it? Again, I'm just hesitant to change for no reason. Was there a reason you'd want to make a switch when you did? I'm also looking for good info here

Thanks! It's still a young tank but I am happy with how it is going so far. I stopped simply because 1) I'm lazy and 2) I want to keep things as simple as possible. My original question was if anyone that regularly ran carbon stopped and saw any detrimental effects...and so far the only people that fit this criteria have said they did not. I will run carbon once every few months to get any yellow out of the water if present, but other than that I haven't seen any particularly compelling reasons to run it.

 

[MnFish1]

24/7. No reason not to

 

[MnFish1]

I’m not convinced does anything beneficial that I need. Water clarity? Ozone and Coral Snow. Odors? Ozone. Toxins? Ozone.

True. However if one wants to buy carbon instead of buying coral snow and an ozonator - all good - right?

 

[MnFish1]

But ozone produces its own byproducts that need to be removed with carbon.

That depends on the dose of ozone, - in fact most of it is detoxified in the aquarium - if dosed correctly. - which is the issue - dosing correctly. People have tried to use Orp to do this - however the results are so variable it's hard.

 

[MnFish1]

That's one point I considered mentioning initially but didn't want the post to get too long. There has never been a hint of yellow to my water even during the first year when I wasn't using carbon and rarely did water changes due to low nutrient levels.

With ORP - the thing is the trend. In an individual tank as compared to the actual value

 

[MnFish1]

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:

I think something this hobby needs to consider is that the tanks full of coral, anemones, etc - are much different than a 6 month tank with 50 frags. Then one needs to look at the great pictures and see - what corals are present

 

[ingchr1]

24/7. No reason not to

If one observes no noticable benefit to 24/7 use, would increased expense and maintenace be reasons?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I guess I was just hoping there was better info out there. I don't expect you to have all the answers, though you often do but besides yellowing, the rest of the reasons aren't super scientific...

I don't necessarily want more surface bacteria, I don't think it's needed and if anything it puts downward pressure on PH. Jake Adams has talked about this, and many coral farmers are now minimizing live rock and sand (Leonardo's reef, one example).

Also, after reading Feldman, how do I know my tank even has excessive DOCs, whatever they may be? What if the specific biome of my tank results in my DOCs being particularly low, and carbon would cause them to be even lower? That seems just as plausible as the reverse based on the examples shared in those articles.

Lastly..."toxins" ? *Maybe* getting rid of stuff that *might* be bad and *might* be present just doesn't seem like a super compelling reason to me.

I am not saying running carbon does harm either (I don't think it does), and it certainly works for yellowing. But I can solve that problem running it for one day every 3-4 months. There are plenty of fantastic examples of tanks and coral farms that use carbon, and plenty of examples that do not use carbon. In my case running it 24/7 simply isn't worth the extra maintenance chore and extra husbandry variable. I'm always seeking to minimize both of those things!



Thanks! It's still a young tank but I am happy with how it is going so far. I stopped simply because 1) I'm lazy and 2) I want to keep things as simple as possible. My original question was if anyone that regularly ran carbon stopped and saw any detrimental effects...and so far the only people that fit this criteria have said they did not. I will run carbon once every few months to get any yellow out of the water if present, but other than that I haven't seen any particularly compelling reasons to run it.

Organics in a reef tank is, IMO, the last big frontier in understanding the water. Almost nothing is known that we can use,

 

[MnFish1]

If one observes no noticable benefit to 24/7 use, would increased expense and maintenace be reasons?

I'm not sure how one would notice. If one has strong ozone or something else to clarify the water - all good - carbon is not expensive. PS - IF you see yellowing - carbon will help.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If one observes no noticable benefit to 24/7 use, would increased expense and maintenace be reasons?

There generally is a clear yellowing reduction when one looks appropriately. Side by side testing is useful to see it. That is what I did (photographically) with ozone and the effect is clear.

 

[littlefoxx]

Do most reefers consider the use of activated carbon mandatory? I'm evaluating whether to use it continuously, intermittently or never? I'm also confused as some say it's only effective for a matter of days, while others claim it lasts months. Does it remove "good" stuff from my water?

I use activated carbon in my nano only, I have tangs (two HLLE rescues) in my 125 so no carbon there. Used to use it in my 70 but Im temporarily caring for a juv naso (2 inches) in there until my cousin gets his tank back in working order and can take the naso back and dont want him to get HLLE while I have him, that would be awful!! Especially since he is a healthy juv and those seem hard to come by these days with what Ive seen!! But to be honest I dont see much of a difference in the 70 when I had carbon and when I dont use carbon

 

[littlefoxx]

Do most reefers consider the use of activated carbon mandatory? I'm evaluating whether to use it continuously, intermittently or never? I'm also confused as some say it's only effective for a matter of days, while others claim it lasts months. Does it remove "good" stuff from my water?

I use activated carbon in my nano only, I have tangs (two HLLE rescues) in my 125 so no carbon there. Used to use it in my 70 but Im temporarily caring for a juv naso (2 inches) in there until my cousin gets his tank back in working order and can take the naso back and dont want him to get HLLE while I have him, that would be awful!! Especially since he is a healthy juv and those seem hard to come by these days with what Ive seen!! But to be honest I dont see much of a difference in the 70 when I had carbon and when I dont use carbon

 

[Troylee]

I use it 24/7 and I also use diy coral snow twice a week!

 

[Miami Reef]

If one observes no noticable benefit to 24/7 use, would increased expense and maintenace be reasons?

There generally is a clear yellowing reduction when one looks appropriately. Side by side testing is useful to see it. That is what I did (photographically) with ozone and the effect is clear.

I like to use the bucket method.

Pic 1: new saltwater vs tank water

Pic 2: new saltwater vs tank water after ozone

(the tank water in both pictures are on the right.

 

[Spare time]

You can see changes in water clarity and if livestock is 'acting' differently between running vs not running carbon.

I don't think people are skilled enough to read if a fish is receiving communications from other fish or not.

 

[ninjamyst]

24/7 in 2 systems.

Most of my reefing years I’ve been using it in a bag, last 3 or so years I’ve been using a reactor which makes it last longer for me.

I change it approximately every 1 to 2 months, when I notice my water is getting slightly yellowed when I look at the tank from the side with lights off.

I never had a concern it’d deplete elements because even if it does it would be in such small amounts that it would either not bother corals at small consumption or would be a really small percentage in uptake in a high demanding system where you replenish it anyways.
I’m leaning more to the later, and I rarely see any deficiencies in my ICP tests with daily dosing and weekly WC with real seawater.

Won't running in a reactor actually make it last shorter because more water is being pushed through the media and exhausting it faster....