Carbon - pains and gains

[Creetin]

i am starting this discussion as i find carbon is such a pain in the ###### to use. its good for our water but i find its extremely aggressive. Sometimes its a case of too much, too fast and my sps will show signs of stress.

One of our bros here mentioned that even changing brands of carbon can cause stress or stn in his tank. i believe thats true...

So here i am, asking the experts:

1. how often to change carbon?

2. should there be a gradual change? something like acclimatising carbon to the tank... heh....

for me, i added more carbon as top up so 1 week later i will remove the older bag...

[scarab]

IMO, the best way to use carbon is in small quantities and changed frequently.

I use about 2 tablespoons in a bag and change every week, cause I heard carbon loses its absortion capability in 7 to 10 days.

[tineng]

hur...did know that....no wonder my SPS always seems to STN a bit when i change carbon....but then it alway recover back....

for me, i'm more worried about harmful chemical then STN as my reminding SPS seems quite hardy...i use NSW so the risk of impurity is there....