activated carbon in a reef tank.

[dstalfire]

Can someone tell me if there is any positives or negatives of putting carbon in my phosphate reactor? I ran out of phosban and had a bottle of carbon so i put it in there.

[corals b 4 bills]

I bought another phosban reactor just for my carbon (as many here have done too).

[dstalfire]

Good to hear, but why? Why should we use carbon in our reef tanks?

[riley290]

activated carbon is pretty miraculous in that it can absorb most biomolecules as well as organic and inorganic substances with very high efficiency. Running carbon can help improve water quality and clarity by removing those molecules that other (skimming, filter floss, etc) filtration methods can't. This is especially important for those with a mixed reef where different corals are waging chemical warfare inside your tank.

As of right now I run no carbon but in the future plan on adding a reactor with it.

[dstalfire]

Great information. Thank you!

[KDodds]

Chemical filtration, to absorb organic wastes.

[neepsync]

Does anyone out there have any negative opinions about the constant use of carbon?

[KDodds]

Nope, the only thing I can figure is that some people are worried about teh uptake of trace elements.

[czerbe]

true but it takes so little trace elements that you would not even notice just changes your carbon once a month or so and you should be fine if you are really worried about it just add trace elements in but they will be added during your water changes as well

[KDodds]

Agreed, trace elements are a non-issue, and I wouldn't even worry about dosing them. It's just an example some people use about the "cons" of using carbon.

[riley290]

there are a few disadvantages to carbon, but with proper maintenance and care they shouldn't be issues.

1. Some carbon will turn the water yellow if not properly rinsed prior to use. This really has no adverse affect other than not looking very pretty.

2. You have to be diligent and replace the carbon over time. Just like filter floss, phosphate removers, etc the carbon will reach a saturation point where it can no longer accept free molecules and must leach bound chemicals to accomodate molecules that will more easily adsorb.

These two problems are very minor and don't outweigh the benefits of running carbon. That said, carbon isn't necessary and many successful large and small tanks have run without carbon. Also consider what carbon does and how important that can be to your tank in a time of emergency. I don't run carbon but keep a good bit on hand so I can put it in the sump if there is anything spilled in the tank or if I have an unknown problem as this usually mitigates damage from unseen problems.

[riley290]

Also, as stated previously the carbon does remove trace elements from the water that could be necessary or beneficial to your livestock. This isn't much of a problem though as water changes will replenish these elements and even without a regular water change regimen the carbon probably doesn't remove enough of these trace elements to really affect much (I'm not too sure about this last part).