Active Carbon

[Shultz]

Another question!

Got a Prizm Deluxe skimmer for my 30gal (UK) tank & with it comes a "free" bag of active carbon & holder to go within the skimmer.

I have read some books, looked at some sites & it seems they all agree its worth using carbon, but & the big but is how long you leave it in there....

Some say run it 24/7 & change it once a month, others say 1 week per month, others as little as one day per month?

Seems more than a little confusing to a newbie like myself?? my main concern is can you leave it in there to long & do more harm than good? ie when the usefulness is gone will it leak stuff back into the tank or just stop working?

Many Thanks,

Shelton.

 

[XXFirefighter]

I change mine montly. A week apart from each other. I have my AC in the baskets for my Emporer 400...

 

[jr5018]

i agree with XX it does not hurt to run it 24/7 i seen a huge difference in water clarity

 

[Shultz]

great thats what I needed to hear....

A side question to it, my LR arrives today & I will be starting the cycling process, should I start using the AC now or wait until cycling has finished?

Cheers Shelton.

 

[Atari]

I was thinking about this last night ( I have no life ) and I came to the conclusion that if the carbon removes unwanted chemicals, then surely it will also remove wanted chemicals too.

I asked a guy at my LFS about it today ( I know, I know, but this guy is actually knowledgeable ) and he says they always stop running carbon for a week or so after a water change because it would make a dent into some of the trace elements before any corals etc could use them. Although this kinda goes with what I thought, I have no idea if it's true or not.

I do know that a lot of activated carbons will leach phosphates into the water, so make sure to buy a very good quality one that will do it considerably slower than a cheap one.

It seems like another case of the benefits far outweigh any negative impact, but I would definitely replace it at least once a month.

 

[reefrunner69]

I run carbon 24/7 replaced weekly. Atari is correct, it will not discriminate as to what it pulls out, but our systems have so much more chemicals in them than the actual reefs have, you will never be able to strip the water free of them, IMO.

 

[Shultz]

Thanks to all, I will wait for the cycle to complete & then start using it, any brands I should look out for here in the UK?

Cheers Shelton.

 

[jhoelter]

I have a 30gal tank with only a HOB Filter - Whisper 30 I think. Would carbon be good to put in this filter? Is there anything else I would need to use to filter, or just the carbon? I got the tank from someone else, and I have no idea what the heck is in the filter - she just said she changes it yearly(?!!?)...

Thanks,
Jeff