Stock My Tank!!!

[FishyInDallas]

Newbie here with a new to me\used 55 gallon tank.

It is currently housing some of my friend's African chichlids, but he's moving them and I'm buying the whole setup...

Got all the needed hardware: appropriate filter, aerator, tank stand, lights and top...

Any advice on easing into cycling with an established tank? (My bud is going to keep his gravel, but I get everything else)

I'm looking at going with a freshwater tank, semi-aggressive, medium sized fish.

My questions are:
What should my bottom be? sand or gravel?
I'm leaning toward sand, but since I'm going freshwater, I shouldn't need "live" sand should I? What would you folks suggest?

As far as fish. What are good types and numbers of medium sized semi-aggressive fish that would go well together?

Any ideas and numbers of bottom feeders\algea eaters?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Rocketman]

First, keep some of your friends gravel - just half a cup will do. Keep that in the tank and keep the tank running and full of water. This will eaither eliminate the need for a cycle, or greatly shorten it. I've found that when setting up a new tank, adding gravel, rocks, etc from an established tank can lower the cycling time to about 3 days. I've done it 4 times. Also, feed the tank so you keep suppling everything with Ammonia and none of the bacteria die off. Don't clean up the food at first, let it decompose for a few days and produce ammonia. You can also add a dash of clear ammonia every few days.

Before you decide on a substrate, you first need to decide about what kind of fish you want.

Cichlids? Community tank?

 

[OrionGirl]

On the sand--you can have it in a FW tank, but you'll want to understand how to take care of it. Sand can compact and form anaerobic pockets, where bacteria thrive, breaking nitrates down. These areas, if left alone, are fine, even helpful. If disturbed, they can release toxins that can kill fish. This means you either must distrub the sand regularly, or not at all. Some fish will root through and dig in the sand, while others will never touch it. know before you get into it, and maintain as needed.

There are different kinds of sand out there. The live sand sold at many stores and online is for SW systems--not for use in FW, unless your building a hard water tank for certain cichlids. There are also sands of different composition. Silica sand is inert, and won't alter the chemistry of your water, while aragonite and calcium type sands will raise pH, and alter hardness.

If you are getting the filter from your friends tank, keep the media wet during the move, and you should be good to go in adding fish right away. Do not let the tank sit empty for a long time (4+ days) or the bacteria will starve and die. Don't start cramming fish in, but stock slowly, a few every week or so, and test the water regularly to head off any ammonia spikes that might develop.

I'd make a plan first--know what you want, build the community on paper before getting wet. If this means the tank gets setup with no fish, buy a bottle of ammonia. Check out the threads here on fishless cycling, and use that method to keep the bacteria viable.

 

[FishyInDallas]

Update...
Well, its been about 4 days since I brought the aquarium home.
Late work nights kept me from getting it set up until this Sunday.

I brought it home with about 4 cups of the established tank gravel and 1/2 inch of the established tank water in it.

I now have it set up with the following:
Gravel as a substrate (rinsed thoroughly)
A few large fake plants and fish decorations
2x 28 inch Top Fin "Bubble Walls" going across the bottom of the tank connected to a Profile 9500 Dual outlet air pump
A Penguin 330 Power Filter
2 standard aquarium heaters

The tank has been filled with conditioned water and the old filter media from the Proquatics 250 is in the tank. (It stayed submerged since the move from the previous owner, so I might still have some "good" bacteria")

After the first 10 hours the water temp seems to hover right around 77 degrees.
Water movement due to the bubble walls and the filter can be described as "brisk", but not overpowering...

A friend of mine who is in the hobby said that a couple of Barbs or Tetras would be a good set of cycling fish while I verify everything stabilizes with the tank.

So with the above 55 Gallon environment, what are some good medium sized community fish I should start looking at?

I'm looking for a pretty good mix of bottom and top feeders that would get along ok...

 

[OrionGirl]

Rather than cycling with fish, check the threads here for advice on cycling fishlessly. With the kickstart from the established media and gravel, it should only take a little while, not damage any fish, and avoid the old "What do I do with these fish I didn't really want but cycled with?" issue.

As for long term--what kind of fish do you like? Do you want an active tank, or one that's more sedate? Biotope? Breeding fish? Lots of choices. First, test your water, and see what fish will do best in your current conditions. pH, GH, KH, temperature will all be important. Not that it restricts you, as fish can adapt to a range of water condition, but if you have really high pH and rock hard water, tetras will be trickier than say african cichlids.

 

[FishyInDallas]

First readings after 48 hours...

PH 7.5
Temp 75
0 Dissolved Ammonia
0 Nitrite
.013 ppm Dissolved Ammonia

The water has turned pretty cloudy.

So what's going on?

Also, the water test instructions give me a test for dissolved ammonia but I have to determine toxic ammonia by the temp and PH. Is this correct?

 

[Matak]

Don't worry too much about the cloudy water. It will clear in time. If you want, you can add a floculant to speed clearing. Add ammonia and test until it reaches 5 ppm and hold it there until nitrites peak, then settle to zero. Do you know what kind of ammonia to get?