Filtration and Carbon

[ebosshard]

220g reef tank

Starting to add corals, fish for the first three months.

Filtration today is run through a couple filter pads and into my sump (the top of an old wet/dry but removed the bioballs.

Doing nothing with carbon at all.

Do I need to do something with filtration different than today, and how do I do it?

Eric

 

[ChrisRD]

Just keep the filter pads changed/cleaned regularly. Assuming you have live rock, good circulation and a good skimmer you don't need much else. I also like to blow off the rockwork with a turkey baster or powerhead periodically.

As for carbon useage - IMO it can help and it won't hurt, so I like to use it at least periodically. If i kept leather corals, I'd be more religious with it (helps neutralize the chemical warfare).

HTH

 

[ebosshard]

Have a real good skimmer and keep the pads clean. 200lbs live rock and 200 lbs live sand (220g tank)

when I blow off my live rock the stuff goes everywhere and then just settles back down, is there a way to get it out?

I added a leather last week that is doing great. where do I put the carbon and how dose?

thanks

 

[ChrisRD]

Sounds like you're all set for filtration. If you have enough flow, the detritus you blow off the rocks should stay in suspension for a while and eventually find its way to those filter pads. If not, and you notice a build-up in certain areas, just syphon it off when you do a water change (that's what I do).

As for the carbon, you can throw a mesh bag of it in a high flow area of the sump, or in an overflow compartment. This is considered "passive" use.

You could get a small submersible or hang-on filter to throw in the sump just run it periodically too. That would be consider "active" use - ie. you're forcing all the water through all the carbon.

I'm thinking about making a single-pass chamber out of PVC or something and putting it inline with my Ca reactor feed. This would accomplish the same thing (ie. active use).

Richard Harker wrote on article on this some time ago and I think he determined that active use is better/more efficient, but passive use is easier to implement for a lot of people and definitely works (just possibly not as well).

HTH