Filter + Cycling = Question

[Bit.Fishy]

So what shall i do? lol im confused now!!! the green sponge eats nitrates,thats a good thing isnt it? but will it effect my cycling in a bad way? i.e my readings not following the usual way

went shopping today looking for blue sponge...didnt find any...4 LFS's... they all had the green sponges and the blacks,but no blue anywhere.

i just want this filter to cycle smoothly as possible,ill probably have my external before it cycles so i'd like to put some mature(ish) media from my current filter into my new one...

as for filters,what are peoples views on the fluval 205 filters? saw one today for £80,but didnt want to get it untill i researched it a bit and had 'real' peoples views on it instead of sellers views.

thanks for your help so far guys,really do appriciate it

 

[Bit.Fishy]

Ok today I bought a Tetratec EX1200,just a quick question...the filter comes with 2 bags of activated carbon...should i leave these out while im in the fishless cycling stage? im going to set it up and use it along side my current filter for now..current filter has been cycling for 5 days now and it slowing working its way through the first 4-5ppm ammonia (now down to 2-3 ) which i added 5 days ago

 

[waterdrop]

wow, you took a big step up! Yup, same story, you'll want to replace those carbons with more biomedia.

Maybe rabbut will see this, he really likes the Tetratecs a lot and probably has a favorite media setup for them.

~~waterdrop~~