Carbon - Yes or No?

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

This line of reasoning is flawed. The real question is how long do those tanks last, that are setup without carbon use? ?

your one of a small fraction who keep tanks for ten years , most people upgrade or ditch the hobby long before , how long do you think an average reefer keeps his tank is my question then??

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

That's the thing, you probably won't notice a difference like that, at least not beyond the short term benefits of water clarity maybe. I'm talking about the kind of difference you notice after 5 years and "gee, this tank just doesn't sustain corals the way it used to." I guess if nobody makes it to 5 years anymore than it's going to be real easy to question why something is necessary.

Besides on a tank that size, doing a 100% water change to reboot the tank is something totally realistic too. This changes the playing field somewhat. So maybe yeah, in some cases, carbon isn't "necessary." But I still there is benefit to its use in this case as well.


I can run a reef tank VERY successfully for a week with crappy lights, no skimmer, and no waterchanges and and come on here and declare all of the usual support tools as "totally unnecessary and I'm the proof." It doesn't carry the same weight as someone who's run a successful tank for 5-10 years though. And I guess each person's definition of "successful" will probably have some variation from person to person too.

i do agree though tony that yes there are situations that would make one think whether running carbon is a good idea , im not saying its bad , im also not saying its needed for long term use either , but i am saying its not something that has to be running on a system , myself and a many others are proof.

[kien]

[reefwars]

if my bubble tip hits the powerhead you can better believe ill run some carbon , but i wont run it 24/7

so my question regarding the organics the skimmer doesnt catch , if running carbon is beneficial to solving that(which i doubt carbon would do by its self) would it be safe to say if i ran my carbon reactor one day a week would fix that?? or may be twice a week? or would i have to run it 24/7??

[reefwars]

carbon bad = most times not(notice i said most lol )

carbon good= sure it is its a fact

carbon needed to run reeftank = no

carbon need to run a reeftank longterm = whos to know for sure??

if i have a tank for one year maybe i got lucky and had a good year with no carbon while if i have the same tank for ten years maybe i didnt get so lucky and had a few incidents where i was glad i ran carbon, one method compared to the other can ony really be done by a tank to tank basis, your tank in ten years may not be in the same state mine is in ten years and vice versa.

[lastlight]

there's only about a million other factors to influence how a tank does over ten years or even a year. that said i am still a believer in running carbon 24-7 i just don't have any yet lol.

[kien]

ya, I have no clue if it is needed or not. I have always run carbon though because I like the clearer water that it gives me. I can totally tell the difference. I had a tank in the basement that I didn't run carbon on and that water in a white bucket definitely appeared less clear than the tank that had carbon running.

[Delphinus]

So can I have all the Vertex carbon from Concept for free? Since clearly nobody actually needs it... I wouldn't want you to sit on all this useless stock taking up space. I'm very helpful that way.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by kien

ya, I have no clue if it is needed or not. I have always run carbon though because I like the clearer water that it gives me. I can totally tell the difference. I had a tank in the basement that I didn't run carbon on and that water in a white bucket definitely appeared less clear than the tank that had carbon running.

thats another variable too is the fact that carbon does make your water more clear , but that said there are also other products that do the same as well. me personally am happy with my water clarity , im sure it could be better but with my type of tank water being clear is something thats hard to aquire when its being fed 24/7

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

So can I have all the Vertex carbon from Concept for free? Since clearly nobody actually needs it... I wouldn't want you to sit on all this useless stock taking up space. I'm very helpful that way.

haha yeah yeah ok ill cut you a deal on the works for sure;P