Activated Carbon In My Nano...

[JakeKM]

I have a JBJ nano-cube 24g...a few questions

-What is the actual useful lifespan on activated carbon, i have heard from some people that it is only a few days and others say months ?

-Is it really essential, can my tank go without it ? i do have corals, will the toxins they produce kill everything without carbon ?

-Negative effects ?

Thankyou.

 

[SkiFletch]

The biggest negative to carbon is expense and that it is used up pretty quick. It obviously depends on many factors but I'd say carbon becomes useless after a week.

FWIW I keep some carbon on-hand but only use it in a chemical emergency

 

[ak>47]

im not sure about you guys but i have never changed my activated carbon before. All i do is add (easy off bam) like a bleach spray and all the dirt is extracted from the Carbon. Washing it in hot water is also very good.

 

[johnnyjtaylor]

Personally I add 200ml of the pelleted stuff changed every month(180l tank), Some say it does nothing for a reef but I think my corals(soft especially,even more so my leather) look better for it when I'm using it than they do in periods when I haven't. It also means you don't have to worry so much about chemicals in your tank, be it from coral aggression or general household stuff in the air, like furniture polish,aerosol deoderants etc(least thats my thinking)

At the end of the day it might not be that important but I will certainly keep using it.


Johnny

 

[BigC]

I'm using HR Activated Carbon.... the Mfg, suggests 1g per ltr change approx every 3 weeks. (loading dependant)
Regards

 

[rabbut]

Well, I ran carbon in a Marine tank for the first time about two weeks ago. Carbon removes Disolved Organics, so does something similar to a skimmer, only it grabs more none-organic chemicals than a skimmer does. The filter feeds into my skimmer. The skimmer went dead for about 10 days and suddenly started to skim again. My guess is that the carbon took over from the skimmer when I hooked up the exturnal, and the skimmer has started to work again now the carbon is used up, and based on that I will say 10 days for a lightly stocked tank.

You cannot re-generate carbon indefinately. Cooking it will work to some extent, as it opens up "new" pores, but it won't last as long after doing this, and it's lifespan between re-generations gradually gets shorter each time. Once it's spent, get it replaced, as it's efficincy and effectiveness is used up

All the best
Rabbut

 

[JakeKM]

Thankyou all for your input, Cleared a few things up for me there.