Using carbon or not??

[hung]

I heard and read alot of people using carbon. cna you guys give the pros and cons of using carbon?

Should I use carbon or not?

Hung

[inthesand]

i stopped using carbon since March of last year and i thought i didn't need it. after all i skim, change water every month, and feed lightly and don't overstock.
i was wrong. the polyps weren't extending all the way and xenia pulsed slowly. First i moved the polyps and they extended somewhat again. i comtributed that to too much light. Later when the xenia slowed i thought of adding a bag of activated carbon. within hours the xenia pulsed wildly and the polyps never looked better. i have to believe another coral was releasing toxins that these two corals couldn't tolerate. now i moved the polyps back into direct light and they look very healthy. so i would use carbon or polyfilter for sure.

[horge]

The two main concerns with carbon use are

1) what carbon takes out of the water
2) what carbon releases into the water

Everyone's familiar with how activated carbon adsorbs stuff. The concern is that this adsorptive capability applies to beneficial substances as well. 'Trace elements' aside , a certain amount of organic glop isn't necessarily a bad thing --as many reef critters can eat the stuff.

Poorly made activated carbon can leach phosphates, sulfur and tars into your reeftank. The former can encourage unwanted algae blooms. The lattest can irritate corals.

Good-quality activated carbon DOES have its place in a reef tank. I just prefer to use it as an emergency treatment.

Inthesand's post above provides one example. When corals and other livestock show signs of distress --the sort that leads me to suspect toxicity in the water, then sure I'd reach for the old AC just to lock down some of the offending substances in the water. But I can't keep throwing carbon at the problem (too expensive for me, hehe), sooner or later I'd have to hunt down the problem's source and neutralize it.


hth,
horge

[hung]

I have xenia and it is looks bad.

What is a good carbon to use?
and is it ok if i use carbon every other day?
please help


hung

[Doug1]

Marineland Black Diamond isn't bad and widely available. Try one teaspoon per 5 gal for a day or two weekly till you get a handle on the problem

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I dont advocate holding marine creatures for ransom but......since you asked
Doug, plank owner
http://hellreef.homestead.com/index.html
www.thereeftank.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000001.html

[inthesand]

delete repeat

[This message has been edited by inthesand (edited 02-16-2001).]

[inthesand]

i'm not 100percent positive, but i think walmarts carbon is the same as BD. they both have the same packaging and both from CA. i use it and it works great. if you rather, use polyfilter or another synthetic and remove when you add trace elements.