tank cycle question

[phat742]

is it possible to have so much activated carbon in the filters to prevent the tank from cycling initially? or would it just slow the process to a crawl.

[xahx]

i dont think the carbon filter is associated with the tank cycling, the tank will cycle by just having water and life in it (LR, LS) the bacteria will grow anyway...

How long the cycling takes depends on if you have LR and LS in it...

The activated carbons are there to remove certain chemicals that are harmful to the tanks... I dont think it will effect the cycling.

[phat742]

thanks! i was just curious.

[austinsdad]

I'm cycling with rock. Using the carbon to remove the smell. Stuffed it in the HOB skimmer. Ammonia went sky high and back down in about 2 weeks for a 40g w/40 lbs of rock. Watching nitrites now. Doesn't seem like the carbon slowed anything.

[Phyl]

While carbon may not slow your cycle down, using your UV filter during the cycling process will. Do you have that connected yet? If so you're going to want to unplug it until your cycle is over. It will indiscriminantly kill off bacteria with no regard for good, bad or indifferent.

[phat742]

yeah i connected the uv filter after my tank cycled (about three months in)[tank is 7 months old]. the reason i started this thread was i was trying to figure out why i got a jump in NO2 one day. i thought that with only 6" of fish in a 75 gal FO tank and all the filtration i had on this thing that it would clean the water to a point where it would even kill all the good bacteria and i would have to start all over again with the cycling and everything. has anyone ever heard of this happening?