Active Carbon

I am new to saltwater setups. I have the following

55 gal acrylic tank
wet/dry filter
Magnum 220 filter
protien skimmer

I am wondering about using active carbon in the Magnum 220??? Do I use it all the time, only sometimes, or never????

I was also wondering about using bio-balls or ?? not sure...

Plans
I am planning on purchasing LR for the tank
I am looking to due coral and fish

any advise or helpful tip would be great..

Thanks for all your help and time
Walter

 

I use Carbon all the time now. At first I never used it but I had a hard time with algea and yellow water. Now its always crystal clear. If you have enough rock in your tank then you will not need the bio balls the rock works as a bio filter. IF purchasing rock litlle by little then use the bio balls until you have enough rock.

 

There is nothing wrong with using carbon 24/7. In fact, I would encourage you to use it. It will help polish your water and remove organics and such. It will do a good job keeping the water free of chemicals. One thing is that carbon may remove beneficial chemicals added to a reef. As long as you dose weekly, you should be ok.

It all depends on you on how you wanna use it. As for me, I run it 24/7 all year long. Of course, I change it every month. ;D

 

I wouldn,t use the bio balls. Ok for removing ammonia and nitrite by creating a living environment for bacteria such as nitrobacter and nitrosomas, they do not help to remove nitrates and actually will aid in raising nitrate levels. If you have live rock and live sand, you don't need the bio-balls especially if you are going to have a reef set-up.
Carbon is good for clearing up your tank from the yellowish tint in your water alot of times as a by product from soft corals. Carbon will also help to remove pollutants and toxins in your water column as well. Having said this, you will have to add supplements to your water as carbon will exhast many beneficial minerals fairly quickly such as strontium and iodine.
You can use it 24/7 or possibly use it for a week then remove it and use it a week or so later by cycling. It is best to remove it when treating with chemicals for medication though. Carbon is quite strong so again just make sure to add vitamins and minerals back to your tank to replace what the carbon removed.

 

Thanks for your help should I use the bio-balls during tank cycling I am only going to have about 25lb of live rock to start with in the tank to cycle it, or should i invest in a good amount of live rock right away and toss out the bio-balls right away?

Coral Reefer what are good supplements if i get a bottle of trace elemments would that cover everything or should I purchase a bottle of each supplement?

might seem like some dump question here but I am new and learning and have read a lot just trying to get some of these answers a bit quicker then trying to look up each one.

Thank for you time

 

Personally, I would ditch the bio-balls and get the LR that you are going to have asap. After you get that in there, you're going to have some time to save up while waiting for the tank to cycle. Good luck!! Welcome to 3Reef

 

how much carbon should you run per gallon?

 

I use bio balls all the time and never a issue except I have totally saturate levels of oxygen As for Carbon use I suggest 1.oz per 50 gallons and change it out at 5 weeks in a MAG. Bio balls or wet drys took a hard hit when the Dr Sand man wanted to boost his sales of sand for his new invention the DSB that sucks and it was no new idea unless you consider it was only a new idea to the new hobbyist that did not own a copy of the new book it was all about nitrates and I never had a issue with the NO3's in all the yrs I have ran wet dries But you don't have to use a W/D Its just a good insurance idea and makes the system a bit more forgiving.. I have a 6 ft x2 ft tower here at the shop 10 yrs old and never touched and no nitrates.

 

My cat has several bio balls it plays with,and that is the only use for them I see.Tangster, you seem to have a problem with some well respected minions of the hobby,all name calling aside for a minute perhaps you would like to give us a good sound scientific reason why you do not like dsb's?

 

general rule of thumb is a cup of carbon in a 55 gallon tank.but i use carbon pad so its hard to compare.its good to not use alot and change it often every 2-4 wks.you should have carbon and a skimmer,they both take of different stuff from the water.as for the rest,its up to what your willing to pay for and upkeep.i use a plenum,live rock,sump with chaetto and carbon and a hob prizm skimmer and my water is excellent.