Why or why not to run activated carbon?

[Reef_Magik89]

I've been using activated carbon for years and have never thought about not running it.

After much readings I have heard about the possibility that it could be removing beneficial elements from my water. Or even things I don't necessarily want removed.

If you do use activated carbon, why do you? And how often are you running it for?

If you're not using it why not?

Let's discuss!

 

[joseserrano]

How do your corals look?

 

[CoralNerd]

I don't use it too often. If I do use carbon, I place it in a bag vs a reactor. This way it doesn't clean the water too aggressively. I only use it if the water clarity isn't ideal.

 

[drexel]

Carbon removes good and bad things, it's a matter of how much you're using and what the system uses/uptakes or has in surplus. If you're doing routine water changes or adding trace elements frequently, than it's probably not an issue, but you need to look at the whole system and see how your animals look? If you do use carbon 24/7, make sure you have a way to capture the fines before they can get into the tank, this is where it can cause some issues long term.

 

[Jimbo327]

What's a good carbon that is not that dirty? I got some BRS carbon, it's very small and lots of fine particles.

 

[drexel]

What's a good carbon that is not that dirty? I got some BRS carbon, it's very small and lots of fine particles.

I think most carbon will have fines initially, but washing thoroughly should do the trick. I like the ROX 0.8 carbon, but have used others like Red Sea, etc with good results. Kolar Labs is pretty good, as it's lignite, but I've never used it myself. I would look for lignite as the source and you should be good, as it tends to be "cleaner" than coconut husk.