fishy cycling for 29 gallon, not so new

[Mr. U]

I have a 29 gallon freshwater that has been without fish for about a month. It has some java moss and anacaris in it and some snails, i thought i was going to break it down, but thought about putting a betta in it. I want to jumpstart the cycle with fish, and using filter media from 2 55 gallon fw tanks and some of their gravel. What kind of fish can i use to re-strart the cycle that I can leave in the tank when it becomes ready for the betta? What kind of other tankmates can I put in there? I've got my eye on some cory's, could they work for cycling? I don't want to use "feeders" and i don't want to start with the betta itself (it's my wife's and i'll be needing a new place to live should anything happen to it-may be on new thread http://www.websmileys.com/sm/happy/050.gif
:dance2:)
Thanks in advance for all/any help.
Mr. U

[jm1212]

platies would be a great addition to your tank. they are THE perfect community fish :D

your tank will cycle quick, but you still need to test the water everyday etc. and change the water etc.

[Soulcoffr]

Hmm. I would think the cycle is still going in a minimal fashion, given that you have snails in there. They may be slow, but they do generate ammonia too, just like fish. I'd think you'd just have to add fish slowly to ramp up the nitrifiers again.

[Mgamer20o0]

well all my snails in my 85 gal tank have done nothing to cycle the tank. move some of the filter media into the new tank and start adding ammonia. that way you wont have much to worry about.

[Mr. U]

Hi all, thanks for the comments. My numbers for the tank today (3/21/07) were:
nitrite=0, nitrate=10, ammonia=0
so I dropped in a biowheel 300 carbon filter pack from an already cycled tank and populated 55 gallon fw, and added dwarf platies to kick start the cycling. Plus i added a betta cup of gravel from two already established 55 gallon freshwater tanks. and for flavoring, i added a cap and a half of Stability (naysayers need not respond :) ).