Carbon

Today my grandpa and I were arguing if I have to change the carbon in my reef tank. Its been over 2 months since new carbon. He keeps saying just spray it with water leave it in the sun to dry and you have it. I know for a fact that reef tanks need good filtration. The carbon is part of it. I have a RSM130 and those bags are kinda hard to find. And i don't want to order it online. So do I actually need to change it. Or should I do what he told me.

 

Many say to change carbor once every two weeks/month.

 

i change mine once a month.

 

When you look through the side of your tank length wise, it should be clear. If it is not clear you need to change your carbon. Mine will turn a yellow tint, then its time. Having a clear tank will increase the light penetration. Some people that have never ever ran carbon, do it for the first time and bleach corals because the water clarity changes over night almost. Carbon makes a big difference in my experience.

 

I use Kent Reef Carbon and change it monthly. I run it in a phosban reactor. Really works well!!!

 

No, you can't regenerate carbon like you can Purigem. Depending on the bio load of your tank carbon should be changed at least once a month and no longer than 4 mos.

 

Mine usually last 2 months or so.. but I don't run it in a reactor or canister. It just in a sock in the sump. I think with water flowing through it it would need to be changed more. Like said above once it's used it can't be reused.

 

When I look down my tank length wise the water isn't yellow but objects at the opposite end are somewhat blurry. Would carbon clear this up?

 

It might be blurry because of detritus/microbubbles floating around....Might be blurry because you have a fish that kicks of sand every 10 minutes (My stupid B&W clown does this and it annoys the crap out of me. He flips sand off of his frogspawn stump and I have to come home everyday and turkey baste the tank!), or it might just be blurry because you need some carbon! I noticed a major clarity improvement when looking through my tank after adding carbon. Give it a try. Can't hurt as long as you rinse it good. If not, you will end up with grey/black dust coating your rocks.

 

Activated carbon only lasts 24-72 hours on average. After this short amount of time, all it's doing is acting as additional surface area for bacteria. If you leave it in your sump for 2 months and you think that its still actually doing something, you're sadly mistaken. Experts agree however, that the use of carbon once a month is beneficial.