Carbon necessary in mixed reef?

I have in my 40b mixed reef two good sized toadstool mushrooms,one green and one yellow fiji,also a good sized green kenya tree which I believe is also a leather coral.I also have several LPS and SPS frags(no acros).I have been running chemi pure elite in a cannister but have been considering stopping this in favor of a biopellet reactor and was wondering if running carbon was also necessary due to the corals I am keeping.

 

I run carbon but not a huge amount. Really it doesn't do much more than clear the water unless you have some coral warfare going on in your tank. I know there are a lot of people that never run it at all and do just fine. I too, btw, am thinking of running bio-pellets.

 

Chemi-Pure Elite and bio-pellets serve two very different purposes and can be used together. FWIW, I'd be more concerned about making too many changes in filtration unless you're having problems that necessitate those changes. Many well-established tanks have crashed for that very reason.

That said, I wouldn't run a mixed reef without GAC. As already mentioned, it will absorb the toxins used in coral chemical warfare.

 

I don't do either with my reef any more. I stopped suing carbon and GFO about 6 months ago and my tank's colors are much better.

Carbon would be good to have if you have leather corals in there as they seem to do the most chemical warfare.