help with carbon

been running tank for a year now i have never used carbon in my fluval 205 filter because i got told not to use it as it suck out the calcium is this right. this was said by someone in the lfs were i got my filter and all my equipment from when i first started. reading through these forums everybody uses it. what are the benefits of using carbon? im also using fluval clearmax as i have hair algae because high phos and nitrates but slowly winning that battle.

 

Carbon doesn't suck out calcium. What it does do is suck out quite a few chemicals that will hurt your corals and fish is left to accumulate, like the ones allelopathic corals will let off into the water.

GFO would suck out phosphates, or a refugium would suck out nitrates and phosphates.

 

sorry im new to this what is gfo and a refugium.so you say yes to carbon.

 

I run carbon. It keeps the water clear, and keeps chemicals out.

GFO is granular ferric oxide, which absorbs phosphate. You run it in a reactor, so it doesn't stick together. A refugium is an are where you have a macro algae (like chaetomorpha) and let it grow, where it will suck up nutrients.

 

ok thanks mate you have been a big help i will go ang get me some carbon.