So I am setting up my new 55 gallon tank, and I will be using some water, some gravel, one of the filters, two Bio-wheels that have been floating and ceramic cylinders from the old tank to try and move the cycle to the new tank.

Tonight I will be filling the 55 with dechlorinated water and plugging in filters and such and letting it run at least 24 hours to see how everything goes.

My question is...when do I want to add all this stuff? I was thinking I would want to add it at the same time as the fish? I will have two fish in the 55 and leave 2 in the 20 for awhile until I am sure things are ok, then they will all be in the 55.

So when do I move all of the stuff with the good bacteria into the new tank? Before, with or after adding the fish?

I'd say you do the whole moving thing a few hours before you get the first 2 fish in, Jen. That way the filter has time to filter out any particles from the new water, but not enough time for the bacteria to die off without any "food".....

Cool, I was thinking something like that but wasn't sure. Thank you thank you!

Also, the filter cartridges I got have carbon in them...shall I take it out or should I leave it for a weekj or so on the offchance there are any impurities in the tank? And it can hold some good bacteria for a bit can't it?

And can I run the filters without the cartridges in them for a few minutes to see if they work? I am assuming yes, but it would be my luck to break them!

Thank you again!

It's not a bad idea to run carbon for the first couple fo days but unfortunately the amount of good bacteria carbon holds is nominal. I would try replacing it with media that houses good bacteria more successfully which will make your biological filtration that much better

And yes, you can run empty filters to check whether they work

Awesome, thank you for answering me, in both threads lol! Now I have to try and make the tubing I bought work to extend my filters to the bottom of the tank, harder with the Emperor's because the intake tubes are not round. But if I can't make it work easily I'll just order the parts from Marineland...it is only $20 including shipping for intakes for both filters. :-)

I can also run them w/o the Bio-wheels right? I am sure that'll be fine, they are sitting in the 20 gallon hopefully gathering somethign good!

I am sure I will have a zillion more questions before the end of the day, and tomorrow and so on! I just hope these filters work!

Darn, darn, darn! One of them isn't working :-( Nothing happens when I plug it in...it looks like the older of the two. Phooey! Ech, now I will have to buy another filter before I can get them into the tank...I can try monkeying with it but if it doesn't even turn on I don't think I can do much.

EDIT: WAIT! Do they stop if the intake tube is not in right? I jiggled it and it came to life! Spray bar water in my face and everything...I hope that is all it was, I don;t want to risk wiring issues. If that is all then YAYYAYAYAYAYAY!

You do have to jiggle with those intake tubes. I've screamed 'I'm taking it back' a few times with new tank set ups only to find it suddenly comes to life. One tank I was such an idiot- hadn't filled the water to the line and I swore the whole thing was broke until hubby pointed out the water wasn't quite at the line...'As if that makes a difference' she snaps but hey! He was right, Icm water later- it spouted There's so many new things to think about with a new set-up

I actually ended up reading the manual (online) from cover to cover and it says that the filter will stop if the intake is not properly seated...most people probably would've read the manual first...