Carbon use 24/7 good or bad?

[MandarinFish]

Damn Joe Kelley!

What kind of actinic bulb are you using?!?

Those pics are deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep purple.

Smoke on the water, fire in the sky man!

What bulbs do you use?

Oh, for carbon I use it when the water yellows or once after an animal died.

Just wanted to be sure.

I will probably run it once a week, like at 3-4 AM on a Thursday just to keep the water clear but also to minimize the destructing of good bacteria.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey for those of you running carbon in a Magnum unit (especially the HOT Magnum) do you use the blue foam filter sleeve over the marbon media container, or not?

And just to be sure:
I had heard use of the same carbon for more than 2 weeks can leach PO4 into the tank. I use Black Diamond - which is supposed to be PO4-free. Do I have to worry about the 2 week limit, or can I let it run longer?
THanks!

 

[SPC]

Posted by Moe:
I had heard use of the same carbon for more than 2 weeks can leach PO4 into the tank. I use Black Diamond - which is supposed to be PO4-free. Do I have to worry about the 2 week limit, or can I let it run longer?

-Moe, Black Diamond is not supposed to leach back.
Steve

 

[Anonymous]

any Magnum users out there want to comment on using or not using the blue foam sleeve over the media container?

 

[geo]

MoeK, sometimes I do , sometimes i dont. I pull the carbon about every 30 days or so.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for the answers guys.
i'd still love to hear from more magnum users.

 

[AF Founder]

What I found strange abut this discussion is that nobody mentioned the real danger of using carbon eratically. Corals will adjust to the light intensity of the available light, particularly in the upper UV range. If the water is allowed to yellow, even slightly, the discoloration blocks a great deal of light, again especially in the UV range. If the aquarist then uses carbon to clear the water, he or she is in great danger of shocking/stressing corals, which could lead to bleaching and or RTN. It is a similiar situation to changing to new bulbs.
I think it best to use and change carbon in such a way to keep the water clear all of the time. Furthermore, you certainly want to get the light intensity you pay dearly for.
To see if your water is really clear, put some in a white cylinder, where if it really clean it will look light blue.