I am in the process of setting up a planted tank, complete with CO2. Once that is set-up, I will be adding some tetras etc, lots of small fish. Will the carbon in the filtration system be OK or should it be removed?? Thanks Bill W

I am going to set up a 165 litre tank, initially for plants only, with CO2 etc. When this is established, I shall add a few suitable fish. Should I go through the fishless cycle, prior to planting, or could I do the fishless cycle with the tank planted??

Having just read the article on RO, I can see what you mean, expensive and time consuming, and not really necessary for tropicals. I will just do as I did last time and get fish suited to the tank after it has been cycled. I am aiming for a well planted community tank. 80 x 43 x 40cm, about 150 litres, after planting.

Thanks for that. I will go ahead and set the tank up with a selection of plants. I will leave it a week to establish, and then start the ammonia dosing. Hopefully the plants will florish with the nitrates available. I will let you know how it goes. What is your opinion on using RO water??

I have come back to tropical fish keeping after a break of some years. I have read about using ammonia to cycle a tank, rather than just using fish. I realise that the ammonia is converted to nitrite, and then to less harmless nitrate, by bacterial action. Whilst I can see that there will be bacteria present in the output from fish, I can't see where the bacteria comes from if using ammonia, unless it is a reaction of the ammonia with various ingredients in the water??? I have read of using bacterial seeding, along with ammonia to speed up the cycle. Your comments and explanation would be appreciated.
A second question. I will initially be starting this tank off as a planted tank, and get this established before adding fish. Would the tank cycling be better with an empty tank, or a planted one?