Run Carbon Intermittently ?
 

Just reading a jar of Kent carbon and it states that in marine aquaria, you should run carbon intermittently whereas you run it full time in a freshwater setup.

This puzzles me.

Do you run carbon ? If so, do you sometimes NOT run carbon -why ?

Noob needs to know !

carbon,
 

I run my carbon on a timer with the phosban reactor. The maxijet will turn on when the lights turn off. I wanted to try and prolong the intervals at which the carbon would be changed at.

As you know I run Zeovit, and I run carbon 24/7

I have been running carbon 24/7 since setting up my reef nine months ago. About a month ago I accidentally turned my carbon off for a week and ended up getting some STN/RTN. Once I turned the carbon back on the TN started to clear up and are all completely healed today. I'm a strong believer in carbon now :-)

This is what I expected to hear -which is why I was so surprised when the company (who is in the business of selling carbon) tells me to use LESS than one would expect. It got me thinking I was missing something.

I plan on running it anyhow but I'm still curious as to why Kent would say that. Maybe I'll email them (doubt I'd get a reply but....)

I have heard.. and try to put into practice.. to use less but change more frequently.

I run it 24/7 and change it once a month. No probs here!

I emailed Kent and got a timely reply from their lead tech guy !

He says:

"It actually depends on the type of a marine system. If you have just a
basic Marine tank with only fish then it isn't as big of a deal. If you
are keeping invertebrates then you only use carbon intermittently. Carbon
will pull out some essential trace minerals and other components of the
water that inverts require. These would be things such as Iodide,
organics, some metals, vitamins, etc. It is recommended to use carbon only
if you need to clarify the water or pull out medication, etc."

This would suggest that those who are running carbon full time are paying for the carbon and then paying to add trace elements that it removes. Of course it's also removing other toxins (if present) as well so that may be worth it itself.

A dilemma !

I've only ever run carbon when something looks odd in the tank (corals closed up, etc.), or I've done something like use epoxy in the tank somewhere. Otherwise, I only run phosban and have had no issues. Why spend the extra money changing out carbon all the time? :wink:

if your planning on a mixed reef, then carbon 24/7(absorbs toxins released by corals fighting chemically)......yes it will pull some of that stuff out of the water, but so will your skimmer......thats what zeo additives are for:wink: