setting up new tank, questions.

[iamsquatty]

we are setting back up our 20 gallon, which we origionally took down because we bought a 55 gallon.

ive got a few questions.

we rinsed out the gravel, put it in, got a filter, put water, and we're going to let it cycle the right amount of time, which we didnt do for our 55 gallon and that ended up being a hastle.

how long do i need to let it set and run before i introduce a few hardy fish? when i do introduce i few fish to help it cycle, are serpae tetras ok to introduce (i have 3 in the other tank i can put in there)? is there anything i need to put in there chemical wise?

any other suggestions or comments are welcome. thank you!

 

[Hound]

To be honest I'd probably go ahead and chuck the gravel and get new myself, but a good rinsing should have removed anything the gravel might have picked up while not being in a tank. What I would probably do (and have done before) is to get a light fish load into the new tank and transfer some filter media from the 55g to the 20g. Most recently I set up a 10g with a dwarf gourami, 3 peppered cories, and a couple of plants. I used a AC20 filter and put several bio rings from my fluval 404 on my 50g on top and to the side of the media in the AC20. After 2 days showing ammonia 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate 15ish, but my tap water has nearly 10ppm of nitrate to begin with.

 

[quiksilver]

you could also put add somthing like a rock or wood from the 55