bought a house, now re-cycling my 90 gal, need fact check

[Trumper]

Ok, so i set it up and threw in 4 tinfoil barbs (3 of which I am growing temporarily for my friend's 150, and they are just babies) and an oscar a friend gave me who is still juvenille. I am on my 7th day of having resident fish and have been feeding sparingly. Here are my readings:

Ph 7.8
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrite .5
Nitrate 5.0 roughly, maybe slightly less

Water changes start today daily, now here are the things I need confirmation on so I don't hurt my fish anymore than necessary:

1. 20% water changes daily, yes or no, if no how much

2. I have a 10 gallon cycled and healthy with only a tiny pleco and an apple snail in there that I am planning on tearing down and using for a QT...can I take some of the gravel from that and pop it into the media cartridges on my Emporer 400 to quicken the cycle?

3. I know dumping the water from my 10 into the 90 is a bad idea, but can I utilize the filter in there somehow to improve the cycle for my guys?

4. Is my emporer 400 enough filtration for the 90 and these fish? I plan on dropping in 2 more juvy oscars eventually and some full grown blood parrots my buddy is holding for me, and I know how damned dirty the oscars can be. I also have a penguin 330 in storage...should I utilize it?

This is my first attempt at a tank with anything other than trops...I have asked all the questions I could think of, but if you people have any ideas for me, let me know...I did a horrible cycle my first time with trops and still carry guilt from that so I want this to be done right

Thanks, all.

 

[TomK2]

can I take some of the gravel from that and pop it into the media cartridges on my Emporer 400 to quicken the cycle?

Absolutely! I would recommend it.

but can I utilize the filter in there somehow to improve the cycle for my guys?

Absolutley! taking the biological media from an old filter and adding it to your new filter will "seed" it and speed it up. But leave some behind in the smaller tank if there are fish in it

I also think that your water change plan to reduce stress on the fish sounds good.
I am unfamiliar with your filter, but if its output is at least 5 times your tank volume you should be OK. Many members here go up to 10 times.

 

[loganj]

Since you are re-cycling the tank with fish, I'd base my water change schedule on the ammonia/nitrite readings. 20% per day is a good starting point though. I'm sure you realize that this may lengthen the cycle somewhat though. Yes on the gravel and the filter from the 10g tank. The Emp 400 should be sufficient for a 90g, but using the Penguin wouldn't hurt anything and would give you some backup in the event that the Emp fails (which is VERY unlikely). One thing I should point out is that the Oscars are going to outgrow this tank eventually. If you've kept them before, you're familiar with their adult size and messy eating habits. Also, since it's a large fish with a high body mass to length ratio, they generate lots of waste.