Still not cycling

[BlazedSaint]

I have asked at Petsmart and Petco, but they won't lend me any. I've tried Stability for the first four weeks. I am going to replace the activated carbon, as the directions in the AquaClear Filter directions say to do.

Thanks for all the advice.

finding a small business pet shop(mom and pop shop) that isnt a major chain will probably sell you some used filter media or a used carbon or some used gravel from one of there tanks, this will help seed your tank with the bacteria

 

[gilpi]

I have asked at Petsmart and Petco, but they won't lend me any. I've tried Stability for the first four weeks. I am going to replace the activated carbon, as the directions in the AquaClear Filter directions say to do.

Thanks for all the advice.

Personally, I would remove the charcoal while cycling, just use as much filtering pad as you can use to try and build up a bacteria culture and never change it, if it gets too clogged up just lightly rinse it in de-chlorinated water.
The thing is to never change or replace the pad, even after your tank/filter has been through the cycle, you need to maintain a certain amount of bacteria in the filter or else you'll will be starting a cycle all over again.

 

[gilpi]

finding a small business pet shop(mom and pop shop) that isnt a major chain will probably sell you some used filter media or a used carbon or some used gravel from one of there tanks, this will help seed your tank with the bacteria

I remember years ago when small mom and pop shops would give away a bit of their dirty gravel so you could speed up the process.

 

[BlazedSaint]

Indeed there's a little mom and pop bird/aquarium shop here that I go to and they provide way better service then the chain stores I goto, they still arnt crazy about selling media or used carbons but its still a better pet shop experience hands down