Can Carbon Cause Loss Of Polyp Extension??

[ronj]

i just added some carbon on my system about 2-3 days ago .. it is running in my Phosban reactor.. i noticed that every time i run carbon, it seems that my acro's stop extending their polyps as much.. is there a reason behind this???

 

[mmkeeper]

Just a guess, but it might be pulling some food from the water column.

 

[Snowboarda42]

Are you rinsing the carbon first?

 

[chadmace]

I recently started running carbon with a Phosban reactor without previously running carbon. After a day I noticed polyp extension for the first time in my system. I wouldn't worry too much about it...I have seen some tanks that guys on here have running lots of carbon and they have great polyp extension.

 

[ronj]

i rinsed it, but not thoroughly.. i'm sure there was still some dust in there

 

[class clown]

My theory (don't know how much truth there is to it), but here it is:

Carbon increases the clarity of the water allowing better light penetration. With the increased light, the polyps can satisfy their light needs without extending as far as they were previous to the clearer water. I don't think it's a bad thing.

Others -feel free to poke holes or fun.. but just a theory...

 

[Snowboarda42]

i rinsed it, but not thoroughly.. i'm sure there was still some dust in there

Rinse it as best you can, it might have released some dust which could have irritated some of the corals...

 

[Jan]

what kind of carbon did you use? Some are more gentle than others from what I understand.

 

[ronj]

i can't remember the name, but it is supposed to be good stuff.. i ordered it from twopartsolution.com..