I will be running a Whisper 5-15 (looks very similar to
this one). I got it from a friend and it didn't come with any cartridges, and being a poor college student making my own made more sense to me.
My tank is not cycled. Even after reading several "how to"s on cycling I can't figure it out so I've given up on that one.
Do you think I could hot glue/sew layers of batting together? I was thinking the metal frame because it was studier than anything else I could think of and I could reuse it without worrying about breakage, however I didn't consider corrosion.
Thanks for the replies.
You don't need a filter cartridge to run that filter. Cartridges are not so great anyways, because they are meant to be thrown out. This isn't so bad if you have a tank that has lots of decorations and has had time to build beneficial bacteria in the tank, but until then, throwing cartridges away can put your tank into a "mini" cycle because you loose your good bacteria that lives in the filter media. If you want to PM me your address, I'll send a small sponge you can cut to fit in the bottom of the filter, and a bag of ceramic chips in a mesh bag. Picture is below. A small bag of the chips will cost you about $5 at Petco/Petsmart. This is a larger bag, but you never have to throw it away. Than you don't have to do anything

This will give you the idea, if you later want to make your own bag, and yes, you could sew a mesh fabric together, but don't use hot glue.
I'll send it if you really want to take care of fish. If you don't want to figure out cycling (come on you're a college student :lol

than I won't bother. Fishless cycling is the way to go. Get fish food, and just put some in the tank everyday. You'll need to buy some kits, which can run some money, so maybe you will decide you aren't that interested in the hobby after all. You need to test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. The cycle goes in this order: ammonia, then nitrites (by product of ammonia being broken down) both deadly to fish, and finally nitrates, which are not deadly if kept at low numbers. This process can take 4-6 weeks, sometimes longer. You decide if this is something you really want to do. How big is the tank by the way?
Gwen