Running active carbon pros and cons

[Yanni]

I have been running all my systems for the last ten years carbonless. The only reason i use it is when i do a tank move or have had a tank crash. I had a tank crash due to overheating a few years back that wiped me out. I had always run my systems as mixed reefs. I restarted that system and one more as strict softy only systems, no lps or sps of any sort. A few of my leathers have become very large over the last few years and are intruding on each others space and i can tell alot of chemical warfare has begun. I reloaded my magnum hang on filter last week and was going to run it for a few days to clear things up a bit. I noticed everything is looking better and the water is crystal clear.
My question is this, what are peoples opinions and results on running carbon in reef systems not fish only systems, and how often do they run it? I am looking for advice from hobbiest that have run their systems with the help of carbon for at least 3 years or more and in the same system. When i got into this hobby in 99 most peoples opinion was to run totally carbonless becuase the mass opinion was that running carbon 24/7 disturbed the beneficial bacteria load. I was planning on running it for a few days at first and now its been a week. From what i see running it just this week has caused a great benefit to the tank as far as clarity of the water and polyp extension of my soft corals. I just dont want to have problems down the line, most of my know how in this hobby comes from trial and error and i am not in the mood for any more error right now. Thanks for reading
-mike

 

[MikeG]

Here is one article that talks about a lot of the myths of carbon. http://joejaworski.wordpress.com/2008/05/09/does-a-reef-tank-need-carbon/

What was the thought on why carbon effects the bacterial population? Most bacteria is located on or within the liverock not suspended in the water column.

I personally run carbon 24/7 changing it out every 3 weeks or so and have on every system I have run with good success.

 

[Joel A]

Pros- Removes pollutants, crystal clear water, increases PAR in a tank, makes viewing more enjoyable.. etc.

Cons- You should change it every 2-4 weeks.

If you can live with that 1 con being maintenance, then there's no reason not to run carbon IMO.

 

[Yanni]

Mike g- i was having a discussion with a friend and that was my point, that the bacteria is not suspended but in fact living in the rock, so carbon would not affect the population.But since i had not tested the theory by actually running any myself i could not really prove it. That is why is was looking for feedback to re enforse the idea that its not going to remove the bacterial population. Thanks for your feedback and the link.
Joel a- maintenance is not an issue, and like you pointed out that it seems the pros outweigh the cons. There is so many theories that pop up year to year and things that once beleived were beneficial actually end up hurting a system in the long run. For examle a six inch sandbed was considered the norm to some when i began setting up tanks. After time alot of people had issues when the bed was disturbed and had catastrohic results when whatever was in the sand bed surfaced into the water column.

 

[spamreefnew]

what joel said

 

[naturebatslast]

In that line of thinking, carbon offers an insane amount of surface area for bacteria to colonize, just like LR or LS.

Carbon is your buddy.

In regards to a 6" SB, some people actually disturb/stir the sandbed to feed coral. Many (alot) run deep sandbeds, remotely (myself) or the dispaly.

 

[mnavick]

I was running carbon 24/7 for close to 3yrs. Stopped using because 1 of my fish as he matured starting losing color on his face. He was receiving proper nutrition and was never presented with stress (other than water changes). LFS helped me rule out Lateral Line Disease and showed me an article about running carbon and discoloration on fish (especially on the head). So I stopped running carbon and he slowly seems to be recovering. But reading the above linked article I do have a small amount of foam in my sump/fuge.
Things that make you go hmmmmmmm.