Hi, I am new to the hobby and have gotten everything for my tank except the lighting and the gravel. My cousin gave me one of his extra canister filter that uses nothing but active carbon to filter. I read on this website that the active carbon will interfere with my biological filtration when I start out. Is this true or not? Do any of you guys use something similar when you started out?

Oh by the way, I am going to use fishless cycling to cycle my water.

The website that I read about the carbon is here:

http://www.fishyou.com/freshwater/carbon.html

Thanks in advance, and I hope to hear from you guys soon.

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I woke up this morning and had a dead fish….Not good ;(

So I was getting ready to change the water….and noticed that the biowheel (marineland filter) had stopped spinning….(something had physically blocked it, I removed it)…but I dont know how long it wasn’t spinning

Got that back moving….

However, in the spot where the filter goes, I have a pack of ceramic bio-media (the type intended for an aquaclear filter – I was hoping to clone some bacteria for another tank)

So I think my biological filtration should be ok…

However – my tank readings were weird…

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0.25
Nitrate: 0

I would have expected either the ammonia or the nitrate to show up as well…..but nope…just nitrite.

Any ideas why that might be?

Any ideas what to expect?

Any suggestions to help keep my fish as stress free as possible other than checking and changing the water frequently?
I have the tank so carpeted with plants that nitrates never show up. The plants suck it up. I should have thought about that. Thanks for nudging the thought process.

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I’ll be moving in two weeks and I want to know if my tank will still be "cycled" after the move.

Here’s a couple of things that I’m doing,

- I’m going to have all of my biological filtration media in a bucket (along with my live plants) filled with the tank water.

- I have two filters both have been running in the tank for about a year.

- The tank is well-established and I haven’t had any ammonia or nitrite problems since I first started cycling it.

-I’ll be taking about half of the water already in the tank to the new house for the fish.

-The gravel in the tank is also going and I know not much beneficial bacteria live in the gravel, but it should still be damp because its going in a bucket and I’m not really going to wash it off or let it dry.

Is that alright? Is that wrong? Will my tank have an ammonia/nitrite spike?

Help?
Thanks! =]
Sunshine: Sorry it took me long to get back to my question, but no I’m not moving far. I’m moving to another nearby town, just 30 or so minutes away.

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