Having Dual Canisters...

I believe the polisher will clog fast if used all the time. We used a water polisher after water changes to remove any stirred up stuff for a few hours.

I have been running 2 H.O.T. magnumns full time for years and both use the micron carts. They do need to be swapped out every 2 weeks, less if there is a lot of mech waste in the tank. I keep multiple micron carts so when I remove one to blech it, I have a nother clean fry one to put in.

As a rule of thumb the outflow from the filter will alert you to when the cart needs to be replaced. When you notice the flow is slowing, its time.

I can not see the point in owning any of the magnum line and not running the micron full time. It is the best bang for the buck mech filtration out there. If you decide to replace it with the carbon basket, I think you will notice a decrease in water clarity over time. that is not to say it will get cloudy, just that the crystal clear sparkling water you are used is not there.