do I need a bag of carbon in my sump

[madmax7774]

What are the benfits of a bag of carbon in A reef tank?? I am starting to wonder of maybe I should add one??

[Folta]

Adding carbon to a system is a very opinionated matter. On the plus side, its suppposed to help clear the water (make it crystal clear), and can remove chemicals from the water (many treatments require that you remove the carbon from your system for the time for it to work.) It also helps absorb the 'fish smell'.

 

On the downside is its longevity. It's been argued that carbon's effectiveness can last as little as one day. After the carbon is 'done', it will start leeching the contaminents it picked up back into the water, making your water worse for having it in there.

 

Personally, I no longer run carbon on any of my systems. I have found that with my cichlids, they started breeding shortly after I removed the carbon from the filters. I do however have some carbon on hand, that occassionally I will run in a filter for a week to help clear things up or take medications out of the water.

[Guest Ominojacu]

What are the benfits of a bag of carbon in A reef tank?? I am starting to wonder of maybe I should add one??

 

Carbon removes the particles from the water that gives it a yellowis tint disolved organic compounds or DOCs. Generally you can go by the water color as far as judging when to change it. Some cheap brands can leach phosphate in to the aquarium, so be careful what brand you use, if it doesn't say phosphate free, don't use it. I have to use carbon, since I am using ozone, The carbon speeds the breakdown of the ozone to oxygen after leaving the skimmer, otherwise I think it is helpful and will make your water a little clearer, but certainly not necessary, I think most people tend not to use it, one less thing to worry about replacing. It does not remove trace elements as some people believe. carbon can remove the following from fresh water cesium, chromium, cadmium, selenium, cobalt, silver, lead, tin, helium, lanthanum and cerium, but these are not soluable at the PH levels of saltwater. Also most of these trace elements are not useful for the saltwater tank anyway.

 

Adding carbon to a system is a very opinionated matter. On the plus side, its suppposed to help clear the water (make it crystal clear), and can remove chemicals from the water (many treatments require that you remove the carbon from your system for the time for it to work.) It also helps absorb the 'fish smell'.

 

On the downside is its longevity. It's been argued that carbon's effectiveness can last as little as one day. After the carbon is 'done', it will start leeching the contaminents it picked up back into the water, making your water worse for having it in there.

 

Personally, I no longer run carbon on any of my systems. I have found that with my cichlids, they started breeding shortly after I removed the carbon from the filters. I do however have some carbon on hand, that occassionally I will run in a filter for a week to help clear things up or take medications out of the water.

 

Your cichlids probably started breeding after you remove the carbon, becuase the carbon can remove pheromones from the water.

[quazi]

The problems with carbon is why I use polyfilter. It turns black (or other colors depending on what it is absorbing) letting you know when it is over and you need to replace it. Mine quickly become refugiums. When I throw them out, I try to get all the Gammarus and mysid shrimps out the best I can.

 

Like anything that filters, it may turn into a "nitrate trap" if you do not dispose of it after it has expired. The same goes for carbon.

[keeperofthefish]

I find it highly unlikely that carbon would greatly leech back any of the contaminants it absorbs, unless it were in an especially high flow situation and you left it in there for a very long time. I replace about half of my carbon every 30 days. In my freshwater tanks, I've found carbon makes little difference so long as I keep up with water changes. When I fall behind, though, the tank with carbon looks and smells much cleaner. In saltwater tanks, where you change only 30% monthly on average, this could make a big difference. Carbon has a molecular structure in which one gram essentially has the surface area of three football fields. That is why it is so good at "absorbing." After a time, it will be colonized by bacteria and could potentially release nitrates. You always want to use so-called "activated carbon" and make sure it is free of phosphates. If you run carbon as the final stage in your filter, after your mechanical filtration (e.g. filter sock and protein skimmer), that is where it would have greatest effect and be most likely to remove undesirable pollutants. It is likely that carbon remove some of the chemicals released by corals to "battle" one another and could also be desirable on that front. To be safe, whenever you sense a high bioload, probably change your carbon every week or so. When curing live rock, I've heard people say to put carbon in the first day, then throw all the carbon away and let the thing run. So I guess it is an emergency measure, also, and likely slows down curing?

[Guest Ominojacu]

It is likely that carbon remove some of the chemicals released by corals to "battle" one another and could also be desirable on that front.

 

If that's true then might be bad to if one particular coral is taking over the tank, it might be removing chemicals that would otherwise help to keep it in check, good thing to consider though, either way.