Filtration

[Fishtales]

I'm wondering if anybody uses carbon filtration for their reef tanks? I've got a 46 gallon bowfront and am using an Eheim canister filter with only the filter pads inside. Should I be using carbon or something else as well?

[offroadodge]

yes

[joshman1204]

Carbon is very effective in a reef tank

[Crab Rangoon]

...using an Eheim canister filter with only the filter pads inside. Should I be using carbon or something else as well?

The effect that the carbon has on your tank will depend on the brand/grade of carbon you get. I know countless people who really use pretty standard, low grade carbon MOST of the time, but never see any ill effects even if they forget to change it, showing it isn't terribly effective. On the bright side, the higher grade carbon typically prescribes a smaller quantity per gallon, so though it's more expensive - you really get what you pay for & it should stretch out for a good while. Just make sure you're changing it as the manufacturer directs, otherwise it's possible to have a negative effect if it goes too long expired (some suggest changing it within 8-12 days, some suggest 3 weeks - depends on the brand).

The only other point to address is: how effective have other people found the use of carbon when introduced to a canister filter? I know that some articles written on carbon insist that you simply submerge the carbon in a calm & safe area of your sump, and that you do NOT put it somewhere that directs or forces water to pass through it. The reasoning is typically that you don't NEED to force the flow through the carbon (in fact, carbon-reactors require very little flow, as its more effective with more contact time), and also that the higher grade carbons are pretty fine & delicate. Putting a bag of it in a stronger current can cause the carbon to rub together and break down, generating dust. If at all possible, I'd say cinch your rocky media in the canister over, to create a sloped nook to it's top, this way you can drop the load of carbon there, rather than evenly spreading it across as an entire layer, the diameter of the whole canister (hope that makes sense).

[+mcallahan]

I run carbon and GFO in a BRS media reactor and it works great. Every 2 weeks the carbon gets replaced, every month the GFO comes out.

[muddybluewater]

Buy the ROX 08 from BRS. It is worth the extra $. Best on the market, IMO

[caferacermike]

I can't stand ROX and I have a 1g bucket of it I'd love to get rid of. It gets everywhere. I put it in my 2 little fishies reactor with about 100gph of flow, and it found it's way through the plumbing. My fuge was full of it. I then tried to add more mesh to the reactor to help keep the "fines" in place, all that happened was that the super fine mesh clogged up and made a mess of the reactor. I then tried placing it a felt sock under my overflow, it found it's way out of that bag as well.

I'm positive that it works really well, but working with it sucks.