Correct Carbon dosage?

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MandarinDude

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Hello, I have found several recommendations to change "smaller" portions of carbon more frequently. I think once a week would be great as I am always afraid that I have left it too long. What I have never found reference to is how much carbon to use. I have a 180 display with a 60g remote sump (~40' away via 3ea lengths of 1.5" flex) plus 50g refuge. All told with the levels I am running and all the live rock and such I have ~220-240g of water. How much carbon should I be using? It is a mixed reef with softies, lps, and fish. I use RO/DI water and Instant Ocean.

Fish are:
1 Mandarin (female disappeared about a week ago (see blue Martensii?)
1 6" orange shoulder
1 6" sailfin tang
1 4" magnificent foxface
1 Watanabe (female, looking for a mate)
1 Coral Beauty
1 Orange spot goby
4 clowns
2 banghai cardinals (spitting out babies like clockwork)
2 sea stars
2 scarlet cleaner shrimp
4 peppermint shrimp
1 tuxedo urchin
1 spiny urchin
1 18-24 Blue Martensii
1 6-8" Green Martensii
1 sunrise hogfish
Misc snails

I typically use Black Diamond.
 
I have a 150g total water. I use about a quart or so of carbon in a big bag. I shake and squish it every few days and throw it out at the end of the month.

Don
 
Don is the "shake and squish" to free debris? or is that a dance you learned in the 70's?:D
 
I run 2 same size bags. Added 1 one week and 1 the next then change out 1 bag every other week to rotate so that no bag is in longer than 2 weeks. I read a thread about boiling the used carbon to re juvinate, but haven't tried that. I just throw the old out. Plus don't want the baked reef smell in my house! Anyone slow cooked thier spent carbon?
 
I wonder if there is an easy way to test the effectiveness of used carbon. I am throwing mine out after two to three weeks. I have two roughly 10in tubes loosely filled in my filter tower just under my prefilters that grab most all the big stuff.

It would be nice to learn how fast the carbon gets depleated in one's particular system so you don't end up throwing good stuff away or way worse... allowing it too long in your tank and have it start releasing the bad stuff!
 
I say better safe than sorry. I use 1 cup per 100g in a phosban reactor and replace once a week. I strongly believe that carbon is almost useless if it simply placed in a bag in the sump. I house almost all sps so water clarity is of the upmost importance to me and I guess I'm a little anal about it. I'd say that if you have any macro algae in your system(ie. fuge) carbon is absolutly necessary to remove yellowing agents. I have had much success without carbon in berlin style setups that I have mantained in the past, but that was in the past. If you are unsure of the amount to use I'd shy a little low and replace weekly. Again, better safe than sorry:)
 
'I say better safe than sorry. I use 1 cup per 100g in a phosban reactor and replace once a week.'


i'm really not trying to be a pita with this question, but how'd you come up with 1cup/100g? i want to replace weekly as well but i'm having a hard time figuring out how much to use..
 
porthios said:
'I say better safe than sorry. I use 1 cup per 100g in a phosban reactor and replace once a week.'


i'm really not trying to be a pita with this question, but how'd you come up with 1cup/100g? i want to replace weekly as well but i'm having a hard time figuring out how much to use..
Click to expand...

:lol: Just do what ever works best for you. You cant really use to much, so try a cup or two per 100g and see if it does what you want it to do. I personally prefer much more but thats just me.

Don
 
yeah, but what does 'what ever works' mean. enough so i'm satisfied with water clarity? ok, but that's not all we're using carbon for right? i'm sure there are lots of 'baddies' absorbed by the carbon that i can't monitor visually..

so how do we know when the carbon is used up?
 
i just started using carbon .... i'm changing it every 4-5 days :p... or at least that's what the instructions say :) .
ohh and i'm using 1/4 of a cup for my 37 .

so how do we know when the carbon is used up?
Click to expand...

good question ... me wants to know too.
 
As Meche mentioned, Salifert has a test kit.

There's also another thing that you can do. I'll try and describe this as best I can. Cut up an old white bleach bottle into a strip that is a couple inches wide.

Use crayons or (permanent) markers and draw a yellow patch, a beige (tan) patch, and leave a patch white.

Unbend a paperclip and make a hanger with it.

Hang the plastic strip on one end of the tank.

Go to the other end of the tank. Can you see the yellow patch? If not, increase your skimming and change your carbon. If you can't see the beige patch, do a BIG waterchange too. Use the white patch to kind of guage how close you are getting to the yellow stage. You'll have to do this over the course of a couple of months and you'll get the feel for it.

PS...rinse off the paperclip with tapwater and dry well after every use.
 
'Use the white patch to kind of guage how close you are getting to the yellow stage.'

clever way to monitor yellowing. thank you. i may try that for kicks..

is it fair then to assume that GAC acts as a sink for visible and non visible (organics and toxins for instance) in the same way? in other words, when carbon has stopped absorbing the organics that turn the water yellow, we can assume that it's not absorbing toxins either?
 
What is this GAC day ? My fingers are getting sore.

The method Don mentioned I have bee using for over 30 years and yes from the 70's ;). Here is a reprint of one of my last posts elsewhere, to incude on the phone today, twice.

I have see modern recommendations of 1 tbs / gal to 1 tbs / 10 gal. I just got a new type of GAC and it calculates to 1 tbs / 4 gal.

There is not sound reason not to run GAC 24/7 anymore than there is no point not to run your skimmer 24 /7. GAC and skimmers work a lot alike. It is hard to give recommendations for the following reasons.

1. What type of GAC is it.

2. What is the load of the tank

3. How efficient is the skimming

4. How often and how big are WC.

5. Is the GAC on active, passive and how so.

6. Flow rate, i.e., does one what the organics removed quickly or more slowly.

7. What is it you are trying to do with the GAC, i.e. , just color removal, overall filtration, more chem than mech, both etc..

There really is no such thing as to much GAC other than to much where it is being wasted. I use to use 1 cup / 50 gal. I would suggest somewhere between 1 tbs/1gal - 10 gal. So, 1 tbsp / 5 gal is in the middle. I often give it as 1 tbs /gal. I also change my mind But 1 tbs / 1-10 is not to much or to little. No matter how much or how little you use or what the flow rate, all within reason, is it is still doing its job.

What Curt is reffering to is a Yellowing Card. They were invented by Dupla 20 some years ago and look like this. You can make you own using paint sample strips.

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