Re acquainting myself to Aquariums

Hi all. I am not really a newbie, but I may as well be since the last time I had aquariums was in 1979. I still have my original 29 gallon tank from 1975, but it leaks like a sieve, so I have only used it for reptiles. Any way; I just bought a used 55 gallon acrylic tank with a hood, but I have to replace the light fixture and ballast. But I only paid $50 for it. It is 48" long, 13" deep and 18" tall, I think it may be more like a 50 gallon. The tank has an integrated top with slots and holes for hose etc. I am planning on starting with hardy fish, either guppies or goldfish since that was what I used to keep and had no problems with. I used to use under gravel filters, corner filter and the type that hangs on the tank and never had any problems. I started with tanks and fish when I was 7 and continued till I was 19 and do not remember every cycling a tank, but I stuck with hardy fish, I never checked the ph either. I must have been a lucky kid because my fish rarely died and by 18 I had 17 tanks of various sizes. If I remember correctly my first gold fish came in a glass bowl for a carnival and that lead to my first 15 gallon tank.

What I would appreciate from all of your experience and knowledge is the type of filters that would work with this type of acrylic tank. Can one cycle the tank by stocking it with plants and snails for a few months before adding hardy fish? That was somewhat my technique a long time ago and it seemed to work well. I will not be ready to even set up my tank for a month or two and am working on my plans for a cabinet or stand, I like to build my own if I can and am also looking at home made filters as an option. Thanks in advance. Martin

RUGF

Thank you for a quick reply. Could you enlighten me a bit. I have been reading other threads and have seen rugf and have yet to find what it is. I assume it is a type of ugf, what is the r for? I hate guessing what abbreviations mean