Polyp extension related to activated carbon?
 

I have been doing alot of thinking lately as to why several of my milleporas are showing poorer polyp extension than normal and the only factor that I've changed in my system is that I switched brands of activated carbon and now I am running more carbon than previously.

Has anyone else noticed such a difference in PE while using or not using activated carbon? My milles used to have such crazy PE that you could barely make out their actual shape, but now you can see their whole skeletons and the polyps only extend maybe 1/8" max.

yeap. too much carbon and my corals react negatively.

Kwirky, How much is too much? I'm running about 10 ozs. in a canister filter, along with Rowaphos. (90 gal mixed reef and 50 gal sump/fuge)

I've never noticed any negative reaction, if anything its just the opposite and I currently have about 4 cups of carbon in my tank.

depends on the carbon and the coral. zoos and palys are kinda sensitive to large ammounts of carbon I've found. A large ammount, I've found, is like a liter of silicarb per 100g. I now run my carbon passive like the zeovit guide says. 100mL / 25g

when using silicarb use about half as much. That stuff's SUPER strong. I made the mistake of using an entire bag for my 120g tank in an AC HOB filter and it did a real number of my soft corals (toadstools, zoos, finger leathers, palys)

ive noticed serious affect with too much carbon.I wouldnt worry about how much carbon your using but how much flow is through it.should have the ratio on the container ,the brand i use does

I get the best PE when I don't run carbon, but when I run lots of RowaPhos.

How are you guys running carbon? I just put a bag from my FW tank filter in my sump.(New bag, not used LOL) Is there a better way?

^..^ bandit I find running carbon in a canister works best!
_#_

As for PE I think if you look on RC you will find that vodka sugar and vinegar mixed with aminos will give you great PE. I run ultralith and have good PE on my sps but heck was dosing aminos before and had great polyp extension back before I started UL. Try aminos first and see whatever you do start with small amounts and slow.

This is very similar to what I've seen in regards to my milleporas. I was just hoping that I wasn't the only one seeing such a phenomenon in their tanks. I used to run phosphate media in my reactor, but since I've never had a phosphate problem I switched it out to carbon instead. Looks like I'll be swapping the carbon back for phos media and hope PE improves.