i need help starting fishless cycle

Activated carbon has minimal effect on the fishless cycling. However you can replace it with other pads to increase the filtration.

The safest way is to cycle the aquarium with ammonia instead of fish. It is also faster. To make it happen, you need a source of ammonia and a water test kit.

For full details on fishless cycling, please check out the following article. http://petskeepersguide.com/aquarium-nit...s-cycling/