Carbon

[jesshimom]

I want to run some carbon in my tank; and can I use regular carbon (Marineland) that I have gallons of in my fish room; or does it have to be Reef Carbon that I saw at the LFS?

If so, what's the difference?

Thanks, Colleen

 

[uwscotch]

I've used marineland, pretty common choice. One word of caution, it may contribute to "popeye" in clown fish. This is normally restricted to one eye and they will recover, but it has happened more often than what I would call coincidence with myself and other reefers.

uwscotch

 

[jesshimom]

That's weird; just when using Marineland Carbon? Funny thing; I've got a clarkii that has been sitting in a hospital tank for over a month with popeye. Almost two months actually. Blue Sierra convinced me to leave him alone and he would get over it and sure enough the past few days his eye is finally almost normal. It was sooooo big it looked like one of those rediculous gold fish. However, I wasn't running any carbon on the tank he was originally in.

Thanks for the info

 

[uwscotch]

Most popeye will clear up on its own with not apparent long-term damage. It is commonly caused by a trauma to the eye. ie, netting, running into rocks, fighting. Go to some more established forums and look up carbon and/or clownfish. I personally added carbon after reading some of the article. It was the first time I actually used carbon in years, 4, maybe 5. within 2 weeks, my female clown had popeye. Does the carbon cause it, do the clowns get restless and clumsy, bump into rocks, etc, i do not know. There is a mystery here that one day i would like to better understand, but my clowns are mating regularly. I'm not about to test it now. Hopefully we get somemore feedback to your original question, what is the best carbon to run.

by-the-way, after running the carbon, "marineland Black diamond" for a couple of weeks, when i performed a water change and looked at the water in the waste bucket, it was clearer than i have ever seen it.

uwscotch