dolphingrl101

I recently switched my 27 gallon tank from being a turtle tank to a fish tank. We set up the graval and plants etc. Filled it with water, theres no fish and I want to cycle it first. But the fluval plus filter worked great for the turtles, but is it good enough for fish?
It comes with the two sponge type pads, they also have a carbon pad that can go in there too. Should I get a carbon pad aswell?
I'm looking at keeping basic tropical fish, nothing too fancy.

lew2000

the filter should work - i believe it is rated at 30gph. personaly i don't use AC at all - but everybody differs on this issue. The two sponge pads will allow for bacterial colinization, and you can rinse one (in tank water that you are removing when you do a water change) and then rinse the other the next time - and cycle them. Once you have completed the tank cycle, i would then add fish slowly (which is hard i know). AS you add fish and have them acclimate and wait a period of time - then measure your ammonia and nitrates - as long as you don't overstock, and with this type of filter i would definitly understock - you can keep control of these parameters. Given that you are only turning the tank water over at best once an hour, i personaly would recommend that you don't get any plecos or fish that create substantial waste versus their size. Also keep track of your flow from the output and look to make sure that it is always flowing well with a submesible filter.

Hope this helps - sorry for the long reply. As i said, of course this is how i would do it - doesn't mean it is the best of course. Also, you will get a number of responses regarding the use of AC. I would suggest you type in acitivated carbon in the FL serch bar and read the variuos threads on this subject and make an informed decision.