Cycled Filter

[corey01]

so my filter has got these active carbon pads you have to insert into but how can i not kill keep my filter cycled if i have to keep replacing the active carbon pad!?there are two pads in there all togetherbut ill just be getting rid of half the population of friendly bacteria by replacing one of the pads every four weeks . any suggestions!? im so confused!

 

[three-fingers]

Suggestion: don't use carbon pads.

The carbon stops the filter from ever becoming fully mature anyway.

And they will burn a hole in your wallet constantly having to replace them. There is no need for carbon at all.

IMO carbon is a waste of time unless your desperately trying to remove medicine.

But don't worry too much, I don't think that much bacteria actually be able to grow in a carbon pad, and people who use the carbon pads replace them all the time with no problem .

Remember if you stop using the carbon, do lots of water changes for the first couple of weeks, your tank may go through a mini cycle because the carbon has prevented your filter bacteria from dealing with all the fish waste.

 

[GoldLenny]

Chemical filtration, if used, should be the last stage that the water goes through before returning to the tank. That way, the N-bacteria will mostly be on the earlier stages of filtration. Also, if you have those filter cartridges with only thin layers of filter pads/sponges, you would be better off adding more filter media (sponge of polypad) to the reservoir. Then you could alternate cleaning/changing the final stages of filtration and just take the "extra" polypad and squeeze it out in removed tank water to keep the N-bacteria alive on it. This should prevent you from having any cycling issues.

 

[corey01]

Thanks! ill bear that in mind but the tank that i had for my birthday came with that filter and it has special plastic balls that bacteria is supposed to stick there its basically the same design as an external filter only inside the tank anyways i havnt had any problems in the past 6 months so i think im fine

my tank is also heavy planted so most toxins are absorbed by the plants

 

[GoldLenny]

You didn't tell us about the bio-balls in your first post.

If your tank is heavily planted and you are adding fertilizer, you probably don't want to use chemical filtration anyhow.

 

[corey01]

ok thanks!