New Tank

[Mickfender]

Thanks fish crazy just looking at all this stuff in my living room is giving me panic attacks but have to look as if i know what im doing as wife is wondering where all the cash is going with no fish in tank at moment lol but i will get to grips with it tommorrow i hope

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Mick.
It is completely up to you whether or not to use carbon in your new filter. Carbon is most useful to remove strange odors, medications and the color caused by wood in the water. A typical filter going through a fishless cycle will have the carbon provide no benefit. I would put the carbon on the shelf for the day when I have a real need to use it. Carbon only works for a few days, maybe as much as a month under some circumstances, so using it now would probably be wasting it. The space where you are meant to put the carbon could probably be better used to hold more biological media.
Don't worry about getting everything right from the start on your new tank. If you are a bit off and have any problems, we can help you sort them out. A new tank is meant to be enjoyed, not be a source of stress.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, agree with OM47, it would be ideal now (before the fishless cycle) to swap the carbon out to the storage shelf and increase the ceramic gravel or sponge or other type of biomedia that you can find that fits that media tray/position nicely. This way the bacteria will have a larger volumetric area to establish in during the cycle.

That being said however, if you have a fairly large filter (for some reason I'm remembering?) which already has a decent amount of biomedia and you've already begun with the cycle, it will not be the end of the world to plan to slowly swap the carbon out later after the cycle has finished. If there's an issue finding the right media or something that would give you more time. On the other hand, if its easy to get the replacement media, it will give you greater benefit to do it now, before or a little after the beginning of the fishless cycle.

~~waterdrop~~