carbon

[mgonz]

I was curious as to wether or not it is possible to use to much carbon in a system. I am referring to granule carbon and not carbon dosing.. If so how much is to much and what would be the negative effects from using to much carbon?

 

[Nickjr000]

You can use too much especially if its in a reactor. All brands and types are different, You can use from prob 2 liters to 1/4 of a liter for 100 gallons depending on the type. I found the more expensive ones to work better and you use less so it takes up less room

 

[mgonz]

so if you are using to much how would you know.. what would be the signs?

 

[Nickjr000]

Not sure. I know if you use too much it will take to much of the necessary stuff out of your tank. Guess your corals would start to look not so good. Prob google it..."using too much carbon"

 

[mgonz]

I dose trace and everything daily I also use Tropiuc marin bio calcium which has trace elements in it as well. I change out the carbon prob every two weeks but never really new if you could use to much. I am using the carbon from last years group buy. my corals seem to love what I do but wondering if maybe using to much carbon was a bad thing or if it would give me a negative effects. you know things to look for.. thats all

 

[The_Codfather]

From my understanding carbon doesn't take out trace elements just organic chemicals

 

[The_Codfather]

I dose trace and everything daily I also use Tropiuc marin bio calcium which has trace elements in it as well. I change out the carbon prob every two weeks but never really new if you could use to much. I am using the carbon from last years group buy. my corals seem to love what I do but wondering if maybe using to much carbon was a bad thing or if it would give me a negative effects. you know things to look for.. thats all

If it's not broke why fix it?

 

[Hawkeye]

if boomer is around he could chime in - but the only problem with too much carbon is how to properly filter them. That is when there is too much it tends to clump together therefore making a bio-logical filter/nitrate trapping/detritus mess. But you'd have to be pretty lax (e.g. greater than 2 months) about changing it out for this to happen.

I personally see no downsides to regular use of larges amounts of carbon. I have never heard of overdosing. Can you get a skimmer that is too big for the system? I guess so but that would be my equivalent of od'ing on carbon. A skimmer probably takes out far more trace elements than carbon does.

 

[Nickjr000]

I just say you can overdose cause every brand has certain limits on how much to use. The zeo carbon is real strict with how much you use and your suppose to use 1/2 the amount if in a reactor, for the zeo one anyway. If you read the forums everyone says to make sure you dont use too much carbon cause it will strip your corals? I dont know, just what i read

 

[jazzsam]

I dose trace and everything daily I also use Tropiuc marin bio calcium which has trace elements in it as well. I change out the carbon prob every two weeks but never really new if you could use to much. I am using the carbon from last years group buy. my corals seem to love what I do but wondering if maybe using to much carbon was a bad thing or if it would give me a negative effects. you know things to look for.. thats all

If it's not broke why fix it?

Could not agree more!

 

[mgonz]

I was just asking because I don't want to waste any by overusing it. that's all. also wasn't sure if there were any negative effects for doing this, that's all. Thanks for all the responses

 

[Boomer]

Can you use to much GAC ? No. But then there is over kill and a waste of money. Can or could there be any potential risks ? Yes. If you are using none and then start using it or add allot more of what you are using or go from a poor grade to a high grade and have a tank full of corals, the often corals often exspell the Zoo's, due to the sudden shift in the nutrient load. You can also see this just by moving a coral from a Hi-Nutrient load-->Low-Nutrient Load or a Low-Nutrient Load ---> Hi-Nutrient Load. For most GAC's it is 1/2 cup / 50 gal/ m (or more frequently if you like). If using it for the first time then half that for the first month.

 

[Hawkeye]

Makes sense - excellent post and informative as always - thanks boomer!