Cycling a tank with only a Carbon pad in filter

[cloaker]

Hi everyone,

I picked up a National Geographic 2.5g Betta tank that came with a very simple filter: a sponge over the intake, and within the filter, only a double carbon pad and nothing else. I was wondering if I could even cultivate beneficial bacteria with this tank because besides the substrate (fine sand), there isn't really anywhere else for the bacteria to grow. If the bacteria grows on the carbon pads, then they'll be gone when I have to replace those pads in a couple months when the carbon has been used up (or should I keep it just for the mechanical filtration + colonies of bacteria on it?).

Any advice?

EDIT: Link of the exact tank with pictures of the filter and carbon pads

 

[FishyBusiness]

You can slice open the pad and dump the carbon out. I haven't used those in many years but I used to keep 2 extra on hand. One with carbon removed and one with carbon in. Months down the road, put the other empty one in front of the used one in the filter to transfer the BB to it. After a month take the old one out. I always kept one with carbon just in case I needed it. There's usually only a few occasions carbon is needed. Hope that makes sense...!

Edit: When you do your water changes, rinse the filter pad in old tank water and only replace it when it gets to be unusable.

 

[cloaker]

So I'm essentially turning the carbon pad into mechanical filtration? I was thinking of dumping the carbon like you said and stuffing some Biomax in there to grow BB. Sounds like a good idea thanks!