Carbon use

[dschflier]

I am curious to hear peoples opinion on the continuous use of carbon as opposed to not using, or using it part time. I am looking for feedback from people who have been in the hobby for a long time or have some information to share on the subject. I am very interested in hearing everyones comments. Types of Carbon used,Quantities and how large your setup is, What you use it in, ect .

Thanks

David

[Grav]

Im pro-carbon.

 

I use it in many systems on a full time basis, changing it out every 4 weeks or so. It keeps the water clean and clear, and removes organics that might otherwise become Nitrates.

 

I know that over using carbon, changing it too often, allowing it to be in a fluidized state, or falure to rinse it well contributes to HLLE. I have seen this 1st hand as well as tangs getting better when carbon use was lowered / corrected.

[dschflier]

I never heard that to much carbon can cause HLLL. That is very interesting. What happend with you that you saw this? Did it go away when you started using less? I ask this because I see what I think is a bit of HLLL in my yellow tang. All my other tangs appear fine.

[Grav]

You will every now and then hear someone suggest that it is a possible cause.

 

I know it to be a FACTOR at the minimum.

 

In my former days as the manager of a LFS's Service Department we simply over used carbon in about half of our tanks in an effort (it worked) to keep customer tanks very clear. At some point I realized that the tanks getting weekly carbon changes had FAR more Hole in the head and LLE. Different tanks, different foods, lighting... different everything, only constant was amount of carbon usage.

 

So I cut back the usage and bang, things got better. Not ALL better in ALL cases, but clearly better in the vast majority.

 

I could prolly list 15-20 cases.

[Guest Aurora]

I use carbon periodically mostly to keep the water clear and improve light penetration in my tank. . It doesn't take much. I put a fistfull of carbon in a nylon sock with a wad of new filter fiber on top...put the sock over the overflow return or the skimmer output. The filter fiber is to help trap detritus and keep the carbon particles from getting too agitated and tumbling against each other ( if that happens, you get fine particles of carbon everywhere in your sump from the tumbling carbon). I remove the sock after about 1-2 weeks and throw everything away. Wash your sock and you are ready to go again. The best socks I've found is diy from the 4" nylon pipe cover/sleeve that you can find at Home Depot. They sell them in 50' rolls and are meant to go over those 4" and 6" black corrugated pipes in the plumbing dept. Cut a foot section and tie one end off with a knot or zip tie. The nice thing about these socks is that they are stretchable and as the sock gets clogged with detritus, they stretch to allow water to exit. You can tell when you need to clean your sock from the way they balloon up when clogged. I also use them over my skimmer outlet to eliminate microbubbles. Y

Edited November 5, 2007 by Aurora

[rrubberbandman]

whats HLLL HLLE LLE???????

i use carbon once a month for about a week.......

Bryan

[SkiCurtis]

Yea what is whats HLLL HLLE LLE?

i just switched over from the bag method to a deltec reactor for my 240 and I'm going to run carbon 27/7 is this going to be OK.

Thanks Curtis

[dschflier]

If you run carbon 27/7 I think that is great. I just need to know if the deltec reactors are so good Hl that they give you 3 extra hours every day. If that is the case I am sorry to say Dan but I will have to switch to Deltec. HLL Head and lateral line disease. It is a common ailment amoung many flat body salt water fish. Especially angels and tangs

[lanman]

If you run carbon 27/7 I think that is great. I just need to know if the deltec reactors are so good Hl that they give you 3 extra hours every day. If that is the case I am sorry to say Dan but I will have to switch to Deltec. HLL Head and lateral line disease. It is a common ailment amoung many flat body salt water fish. Especially angels and tangs

 

I think that is just another one of Deltec's wild claims. "Deltec is so good, we can squeeze 27 hours of filtering into a 24-hour day!"

 

bob

[vaironman]

If you run carbon 27/7 I think that is great. I just need to know if the deltec reactors are so good Hl that they give you 3 extra hours every day. If that is the case I am sorry to say Dan but I will have to switch to Deltec. HLL Head and lateral line disease. It is a common ailment amoung many flat body salt water fish. Especially angels and tangs

 

 

Not sure; however, I've been running 24/7 Phosban reactor with carbon and phosphate remover. I change about once a month and the water looks very clear, everytime a new media is replaced. Other than that, my majestic angel + blue tang look good to me. I do feed them lots of Nori every other day.

 

KLee

[dschflier]

I use pretty much the same procedure as vaironman. It really makes a big difference in my tank clarity as well

[Grav]

HLLE = Lazy typing for hole in head and lateral line erosion, a common Tang ailment