How often do you change your carbon

[ViperDoug]

I have been running carbon in my tank for a few months. I know that the carbon expires very quickly once it is installed in the tank. My question is how often those of you who run carbon change it out? I have been changing mine about every 3 weeks.

 

[BLADEYAMAHA]

Every 2-3 weeks.

 

[steved13]

2-3 weeks, rinsed thoroughly, very low flow, exit into filter sock.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I usually change mine monthly. There's a certain group of hobbyists that don't seem to think it's a wise idea to run carbon at all in a reef aquarium, and usually these folks will tell you that carbon goes bad almost instantly. That may or may not be the case.. I don't know, because to be honest, none of us are scientists conducting double blind studies in laboratory settings. We're just hobbyists, reading what others have written, and it may or may not be true. Practically speaking, I've seen many fine examples of tanks that change every month or so. YMMV.

It's important to note that carbon is a great safety net if something dies in the tank or if you get some sort of unknown pollutant in the tank. If you suspect something is afoul in your aquarium, I would change the carbon immediately.

 

[ViperDoug]

Thanks for the responses! How do you figure out the correct amount of carbon to use. I have a 65 gallon.

 

[David Shaw]

Most packaging gives the recommended amount to be used per gallon.

SeaChem's matrix carbon say on their packaging that a jar of 500ml treats 200 gallons. So if you use 1/3 of a jar every time you change you would get 3 lots of changes worth from it.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

Doug - for 3 years I have run Chemi-pure elite (carbon & gfo) and it has worked well for me, I change it every 3 months. two 11.74 bags in my 66 gallon tank

if this helps any...

If I were just running a high grade carbon from like BRS, I think I would change it every 3 weeks...

 

[tommyboynj]

Thanks for the responses! How do you figure out the correct amount of carbon to use. I have a 65 gallon.

Doug,

Bulk reef supply has a good set of calculators. Not sure if you are running a reactor but out off all the cash I have poured into my tank the 40 bucks I spent on my carbon reactor was well worth it. I noticed a difference in clarity quickly compared to having a bag sitting in the bubble trap if my sump. I change out the media every two weeks when I do water changes.

 

[redwhitechem]

I have been running carbon in my tank for a few months. I know that the carbon expires very quickly once it is installed in the tank. My question is how often those of you who run carbon change it out? I have been changing mine about every 3 weeks.

I have been running carbon in my tank for a few months. I know that the carbon expires very quickly once it is installed in the tank. My question is how often those of you who run carbon change it out? I have been changing mine about every 3 weeks.

Minimum 2 weeks changing.

 

[mr_tap_water]

Every four weeks for me[emoji846]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Revan]

I change mine out every four weeks too.

I do however give it a quick rinse under the faucet every 10 days or so to remove any detritus that may have accumulated in the mesh bag.

 

[Blue Space]

Not as often as I should.

 

[Oxylebius]

I change my carbon every couple of months... not saying this is the way you should do it, but I get lazy and forget about it.

 

[Pat24601]

I change my carbon every couple of months... not saying this is the way you should do it, but I get lazy and forget about it.

I do every two months as well, but like Glenn I run chemi pure elite.

There are lots of different philosophies on how to run carbon. One guy at my LFS insists I should run carbon for 2 weeks and then no carbon for 6. His philosophy is too much carbon is a bad thing.

My tactic has been fine for 3 years. I'm going to stick with it.

 

[Pat24601]

Doug - for 3 years I have run Chemi-pure elite (carbon & gfo) and it has worked well for me, I change it every 3 months. two 11.74 bags in my 66 gallon tank

if this helps any...

If I were just running a high grade carbon from like BRS, I think I would change it every 3 weeks...

This is pretty much my exact set up.

 

[Oxylebius]

There are lots of different philosophies on how to run carbon. One guy at my LFS insists I should run carbon for 2 weeks and then no carbon for 6. His philosophy is too much carbon is a bad thing.

There are.

And there are considerations one should consider as well. If you have a mixed reef, carbon can help alleviate the chemical warfare that can occur. But, if you aren't running carbon for 6 weeks then chemicals from one soft coral can effect sps.

If you are running a sps only tank, not running carbon for 6 weeks may not be such an issue.

And then there is the consideration on if you have surgeonfish and angels and there sensitivities to carbon dust. Some people who have these fish won't run any carbon.

 

[Pat24601]

There are.

And there are considerations one should consider as well. If you have a mixed reef, carbon can help alleviate the chemical warfare that can occur. But, if you aren't running carbon for 6 weeks then chemicals from one soft coral can effect sps.

If you are running a sps only tank, not running carbon for 6 weeks may not be such an issue.

And then there is the consideration on if you have surgeonfish and angels and there sensitivities to carbon dust. Some people who have these fish won't run any carbon.

This is s great point. I have a mixed tank which is one reason I run carbon.

 

[Pat24601]

There are.

And there are considerations one should consider as well. If you have a mixed reef, carbon can help alleviate the chemical warfare that can occur. But, if you aren't running carbon for 6 weeks then chemicals from one soft coral can effect sps.

If you are running a sps only tank, not running carbon for 6 weeks may not be such an issue.

And then there is the consideration on if you have surgeonfish and angels and there sensitivities to carbon dust. Some people who have these fish won't run any carbon.

You know, I didn't realize carbon could be dangerous to surgeonfish. This was literally the first I heard about it. Learn something new every day, I guess. You would think someone would have said something like that to me in the three years I've been running a tank, but I guess I never thought to ask.

It makes me wonder more about carbon. I have a mixed reef and so I've been running it for that reason. Hard to prove it matters, but it makes sense that it could help keep a coral war from being destructive.

I was never aware of the potential negative effects on surgeonfish. I imagine that would apply to my Tomini Tang as well?

Maybe I need to rethink this, but I'm really not sure which way to lean now.

 

[DaveK]

...And then there is the consideration on if you have surgeonfish and angels and there sensitivities to carbon dust. Some people who have these fish won't run any carbon.

You know, I didn't realize carbon could be dangerous to surgeonfish. ...
I was never aware of the potential negative effects on surgeonfish. I imagine that would apply to my Tomini Tang as well?...

It is the carbon dust that is the problem. It has been linked to being a cause of hole in the head disease and lateral line erosion. If you carefully rinse out the carbon and don't mix it with media that will grind it up, such as GFO, you'll be fine.

In my opinion, carbon and related media are good from time to time, and if it's clean using it all the time is not going to hurt anything.

It is sometimes tough to tell if it needs to be replaced, or even how much you should use. Don't be afraid to cut the amount you use and increase the length of time between changes. If you see the water develop a slight tint or your corals are not doing as well as you like, then increase the amount of carbon used and change it more often.

Keep in mind that it's in the best interests of the manufacturer to encourage you to use a lot of media. Also, there are many reef keepers that don't use any chemical media at all.

 

[Oxylebius]

@Pat24601

I've posted about carbon and surgeon fish before. Guess you just didn't come across it. Here are the articles.

I use carbon b/c there are many benefits to using it in mixed corals (softies and sps) tanks.

Make sure that if you are using carbon that you are buying high quality and second make sure you rinse your carbon of all dust. Surgeon fish seem super susceptible to carbon dust which has been linked to HLLE through research studies.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/activated-carbon-affirmed-as-causative-agent-for-hlle-disease
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blo...ted-in-inducing-head-and-lateral-line-erosion
http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/activated-carbon-hlle-smoking-gun-found
The published paper is here:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08997659.2011.608608