Do You Really Need Carbon?

Do I turn it off at night? Can I change it after one month of use? Which brand is the best? Do I really need it for my reef?

Do those questions seem too familiar? I think most of you will find them to be frequently asked on reef forums. Sometimes at ad nauseum. So then what are the answers to those familiar questions?

While blog hunting not too long ago, I found a site that not only covers these types of topics, but is detailed in presenting its point across. The site? Joe Jaworski’s Weblog. Fortunately for our topic today, he doesn’t hold any detail to himself.

Here is one excerpt:

When it comes to organics, the world’s oceans maintain a perfect balance of metabolic waste removal through a series of natural recycling systems. Both the volume of water and the immense surface area provides a home for tens of thousands of species of macro and micro organisms that process these wastes. In the home aquarium, just a small fraction of these organisms can survive. Coupled with an extremely high specimen to water ratio, organics tend to accumulate in closed systems, and can reach concentrations orders of magnitude beyond natural ocean levels. Even with aggressive water changes, these organics can never be diluted enough to mimic the natural levels where our livestock has lived for thousands of years.

Joe’s post continued to explain how, why, and for how long we need to use carbon.  You seriously need to give his highly enlightening and informative blog post on carbon a read. It will definitely want to make you change your carbon canister today.