What do I have??

[dbbuild19]

Hi, a newbie here. I just bought a 20 gallon tank with some equipment and I'm not sure what I have or what to do with it.

The filter is an Eheim 2211. I'm think I can figure this one out. It also came with 3 Askoll Aqua Clear 50 pumps. It also came with a perforated plastic that appears to fit on the bottom of the tank and a bag of stone. I paid $80 for everything. Unfortunately there were no instructions.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Dave

 

[Ziggy953]

Well a better question is what would you like to do with the tank?

 

[OldMan]

What you have is the egg crate is called an under gravel filter. The pumps would connect to it through some tubes that are about an inch in diameter to move the water for your under gravel filter. In such a setup, the gravel becomes the filter media. The Eheim is an external canister filter. Either filter should be plenty for a 20 gallon tank. There are a number of people who do not like under gravel filters and will encourage you to use the Eheim by itself. I try not to have an opinion on this but find UGFs to be more trouble than they are worth. If you decide to go with tropical fish you will need to get a heater. A 100 watt heater should be plenty for a tank that size.
I would suggest that you go to a pet store and have a look at the smaller fish they have there. If there are some that catch your fancy, come back and ask about them. We will be in a better place to advise you at that point than an open ended what to do with a new 20. I doubt you would find what I would do with a new 20 very interesting since I would consider one that size a good grow out tank for the breeding going on in my other tanks. I am guessing that a person having only a 20 will want some kind of community tank but you need to tell us.