when do I use activated carbon?

[mane3215]

Topic kind of says it all =).

[fishbabies]

when you need to polish your water. if you are just starting a tank....i wouldn't put it in until you notice particulate matter (after your fist fish). your live rock will need all the waste it can get to start it's cycle. i use it when i introduce a new fish or think i may have overfed...only for about a day. you don't want anything competing with your live rock for waste product.

[mane3215]

Thanks, I just added a blue damsel to help speed up cycling. By particulate matter do you mean the little particles floating around in the water?

[fishbabies]

that..yellow water or poops.....when it is not crystal clear.....when you are cleaning the glass is a good time too. if the carbon insert has filter floss/foam attached...don't let it start a bacteria colony (which shouldn't happen if left in the filter only 2-3 days). when you remove the insert....wash it in fresh water and let it dry. you don't want filter media colonies to compete with your live rock...

[mane3215]

Thanks, is there a preffered filter that you guys use?

[Wasabi]

Anyone use Purigen in their nano as a carbon substitute? I've used it on my FW tanks for tannin control/removing meds/etc. and it clears the water up very well. Also, it's good for removing any excess nitrate and proteins amongst other things.

 

Scott

[sammy33]

I usually use carbon in a media bag in my HOB as needed. When my tank gets a funky smell or gets a cloudy look in the water. I leave it in for about 1 to 2 days and then take it out. I let it dry out for a day or so and then throw it in a plastic bag for storage. I will then rinse (with RO/DI water) and re-use as needed.

 

I like Renew from Seachem.

[fishbabies]

filter questions? here's a good webpage to check out...scroll to the bottom....

 

http://madhunag.tripod.com/filters.html

 

when it comes to hang on filters....Hagen's Aquaclear and Marineland's Penguins seem to be very popular with nano-reefers. they are relatively small and quiet and both brands have filter media cartridges that are easy to pop in and out. you don't need the bio-wheel that the penguins use or the foam insert that the Aquaclears use....so don't let that be part of your consideration.

 

Some reefers use the filter compartments of their HOB filters as a mini-refugium......that's when you want a larger sized HOB and adjustable flow might be more useful.

 

I use a Penguin-Bio-Mini. If you have 2 inserts, you can leave a carbon insert in there all the time so long as it is only doing purely mechanical filtration (good for removing particulate matter and residual crap/toxins that may be on your hands or stuff you stick in the tank) Before biological filtration can kick in on your filter media...you just switch out the insert and replace with your second insert which has been rinsed in conditioned/detoxed freshwater and left to dry.

[zizmans]

Cycling with fish is bad husbandry.

[mane3215]

Originally posted by zizmans

Cycling with fish is bad husbandry.

 

 

Yeah I know, however I never got any sharp spikes in my readings and from what I told a fellow reefer on here they thought it was cycled. They also suggested I get a damsel. I think its fully cycled now but plan on waiting for a couple more weeks until I can feel say adding some critters. The damsel seems to be doing great. Very lively and he is always looking for food.

[mane3215]

Thanks for the info guys, how about the shrimp? Can I put a cleaner and a fire shrimp in?

 

Thanks.

[fishbabies]

I don't want to sound like a reverend mother....but you might be starting on the wrong foot with the damsel. oftentimes it feels like a tank has cycled...but it has not. my first tank years ago was a 20 gallon and the literature i was reading told me to throw in some fish, wait for the cycle, and brace yourself for casualties. my tank sat there for a month with 2 fish in it.....i thought maybe i was exempt from cycling....or it must have happened quietly in the night. then the cycle hit like a freight train...levels climbed to max readings in about 4 days. my fish looked at me with contempt in their eyes......and then they died. i thought i was gonna lose all my hair......at 24.

 

here's what i would do: see if you can take back the damsel....lie and say that your other fish are being mean to it and you are scared for its safety. (if the damsel makes it thru the cycling, it is gonna be one mean sucker. nothing to do with the cycling......just sometimes when they are introduced as the first fish, they tend to act like the whole tank is theirs.) now that your tank is empty, throw in a piece of raw shrimp.....blueish-grey slimey kind from the fresh food section of the supermarket. throw in a piece smaller than a dime. watch it disintegrate and test the water for about 2 weeks. you should see algae grow. if you are using phosphate-free water....algae means you have nitrates.....hooray. partial water change....now add hermits and snails. they will help ensure that your live rock and sand is in good order......they are fun to watch cuz you can get lots of 'em and they will occupy the entire tank....as opposed to just one fish that hides all the time cuz its water is scaring it. 2 weeks later add a fish.....tank-raised clowns, chromis, and royal grammas are just as hardy as damsels, but friendlier to new arrivals. wait 2 weeks. add one shrimp. less aggressive species should always go in before more aggressive types.

 

if you have never had a reef tank before, yuo might want to add your entire fish and invert bio-load before getting corals. corals are expensive and unforgiving when it comes to water conditions. they are also harder to determine if they are in decline than fish......so considering the mass of a coral, if it dies and you don't know it, it could be leaching huge amounts of ammonia/toxins into your tank.

 

in my experince....one of the best reasons to procede slowly with a nano-reef (even before you have corals) is because if you have a death in a nano, you can't just retrieve the body as you could with a regular sw tank. those damn critters always have to hide before they expire...so now you've gotta move everything to exhume the body. moving lr or disrupting a nano sandbed can set you back like you wouldn't believe....now imagine that you have a conservative $200 worth of fragile coral in there too.

 

if you are stuck with the damsel, wait 2 weeks at least and then add small hermits and snails before any large shrimp. you need them for your sandbed and glass anyways and because you can get a whole bunch, it will give you something to watch while you patiently ride out the 2 week minimum intervals between additions.

 

Good Luck Chris :-)

[jdsabin1]

I run carbon 24/7/365. With a tank full of corals and livestock you have chemical warfare and dirty water that the carbon helps alleviate big time. Also helps with smells.

 

I run no nano without my black diamond.

 

[mane3215]

Thanks for the insiteful post. I tried to take my fish back yesterday, but it didnt work =(. You say that when algaie starts to grow its a good thing?

 

Here are pics of my tank now, algae isstarting to grow all over the place, I hope I can get a cleaning crew soon its starting to get ugly.

 

 

I will def. be waiting some time for corals, though it is killing me, I want to be able to fully understand whats going on with the water conditions/feeding/etc. of them.

 

Thanks.

[fishbabies]

very nice....green algae is very good. get some hermits and snails soon. they are great at controlling algae so you won't have to disturb any part of the tank by scrubbing algae off yourself.....as much. hermits and snails will also help you pass time and remain patient.

[mane3215]

Great so I shouldnt be scared of the algae? There is even more there now, I am going to get a crew in there to take it down now. I was getting worried for a bit, I have heard horror stories of this stuff.

 

 

 

Thanks.

[fishbabies]

hair algae run rampant is bad yes....algae competes with your coraline algae which takes a bit longer to establish. in the foto it looks like you might have some halimeda buds which are good....you can use airline tubing as a siphon to suck up the excess fuzzy algae on the rock..try and strain out large algae pieces....and then run the collected water through your filter to return it to the aquarium...... leave some for your hermits and snails cuz they have been known to starve if there is not enough

[mane3215]

Thanks for the info, I was trying to blow some off last night with the baster, no luck =). I might hit the harder stuff with a tooth brush, though it took me like 4 hours to get the rocks just right so this will be second option. If I use the rubber hose as i syphone, how do I ge tthis stuff off? It seems like it sticks pretty good.

 

 

As for the buds, yeah I am not sure what they are but I am prety sure its a good algae. I also have some of that I think its called like saw back macro, it looks like a saw blade. Also being shipped monday I have some spaghetti algae for my fuge.

 

Thanks.

[fishbabies]

with the edge of the tube.....if it doesn't come off easy, don't worry about it too much....scrubbing shouldn't be necessary.....i have a hard plastic tube attached to regular tubing for this type of work....the rigid plastic tubing is always handy

[offsprg01]

no scrubby! bad bad idea. just wait it out. i know it hurts now. but you clean up crew will have it spottless in less than a week. just make sure you get a couple of mex turbos. (only one or two) the eat ALOT of algae.

[mane3215]

Thanks offsprg01, I am in the process of trying to piece together a cleaning crew now, I want to have them in asap now that this algae is growing. I dont want it out of control.