changing carbon

[delo978]

I like to use carbon and purigen. Not 100% sure how purigen works but before I started using it my ammonia/nitrate levels fluctuated daily and since I added purigen it's been at 0 for a long time now. I was gonna test it again by removing my baggy for a week and see if there were changes. On a side note I do a daily 2Gallon water change and a 5Gallon water change on weekends for my 40 Reef so I'm not sure if that plays a factor with fluctuation. Tanks starting to look real good now though so I'm happy with my regime.

[DiverDude]

I change once a month. However, I think it might vary depending on if you use carbon in a reactor or in a bag.

I just have a bag hanging in my sump and my thinking is that rate of flow through it is lower so once a month is fine. If I had a reactor, I might rethink that.

I haven't entirely convinced myself this thinking makes sense yet though !

Interestingly enough, if you read what the carbon people say, they say to only use carbon intermittently in a marine tank. I think 99%+ of people here run it full time.

[Lance]

There have been reports that too much carbon use can be a contributing factor to HLLE, but I use a fair amount of carbon and I've never experienced HLLE.

[lastlight]

Once a month for me too. Just run it passively in a filter bag.

[Harpo]

Originally Posted by Lance

There have been reports that too much carbon use can be a contributing factor to HLLE, but I use a fair amount of carbon and I've never experienced HLLE.

What is HLLE??

[christyf5]

Originally Posted by Harpo

What is HLLE??

Head and lateral line erosion. Some blame it on excess carbon or carbon particles in the water. It can also be caused by poor nutrition I think.

[Ryan]

Tangs will get it if they are fed too much meats and not enough kelp, algae and nori.