do i need to use the filter cartride for a fish tank if i already put drops of water conditioner?

Water conditioner removes chlorine / chloramines, but does not replace a filter.

A mechanical filter does a few things:

1. It helps strain out things that are floating in the water (you'll need to rinse your filter pads with old tank water NOT tap every once in a while to remove this stuff)

2. It can contain some chemical filtration like activated carbon that does remove some things, but doesn't last very long. One person replied that activated carbon reduces "fishy smell"...yes activated carbon does remove the phenols that can cause that scent, but a properly maintained tank won't smell "fishy" in the first place. None of my tanks smell "fishy" (they smell like clean earth), and I do not use activated carbon.

3. The most important thing is that it provides a great place for nitrifying bacteria to live. These bacteria convert fish waste products (ammonia and nitrite) that can be deadly into less toxic nitrate, which is kept at a healthy level by doing weekly water changes of about 20%. Growing this bacterial colony is called "cycling".

If you haven't bought your fish yet *fingers crossed* please research "fish-less cycling" so that you can get your tank ready. Fishless cycling requires patience, because you can't buy fish until the cycle is done, but it's a lot less work because you won't need to change water constantly.

If you have bought fish you'll need to test every day to make sure your ammonia and nitrite levels are at a safe level, below 0.25 ppm, and do frequent waterchanges (potentially up to twice a day!) to keep the levels at a safe range. This is to avoid causing potentially permanent damage to the fish.

A filter is used for keeping the water clean, and is really necessary to keep your fish healthy, especially if you have dirty fish like goldfish. Water conditioner only removes chlorine from tap water, making it safer for your fish. So you need both a filter (to keep water clean) and conditioner (to remove chlorine).

However, if you don't want to buy conditioner, you can just leave tap water out in a container for 24 hours, this also removes the chlorine and makes it safe to put in your tank. This is what I do, it prevents any mistakes being made with the water conditioner.

filter cartidges block detritous as it flows into the filter so it cant get back into the tank with your fish, many filter cartidges contain active carbon, wich helps keep tanks from smelling fishy , and helps keep the water clear. you should at the very least, rinse the catridge off once a week, and change it for a new one every month. carbine is really only active for 4 days or so, so if your tank is, new, cycling, overstocked, overfed, or undercleaned, you may need to change and or rinse the filters more often. always add the declorinater to new water when or before adding it to the tank, add the dosage reguired for the new water only, not the hole tank

Yes. I believe the conditioner removes harmful toxins from the water, but if you want to keep the water clear so you're able to see through it, you should filter it.

Yes you do. I don't know what kind of water conditioner you used but that is what they do, condition the water. A fliter helps keep the water clean.

Make sense.

Hope this helped :)

oh god yes you need filter. The fish will die really fast because of ammonia build up. I suggest you to read this before adding more fish.

http://www.bluecrayfish.com/cycle.htm