New/Used Tank

[Trout11B]

I recently acquired a 55 gallon tank that previously held what I believe was Gourami, some type of fw shark, and some other fish that I can't remember what the owner told me. They were downsizing and only had the space for one 55 so I got the second one they had for a song. It came with a heater, two filters, some decorations, and a stand. Anyway, the two filters are Whisper 60's and I wasn't told what the heater was but since this tank was running for at least five years with most of these fish I assume it's an adequate size. I haven't had good experiences with the two smaller tanks that I had that had Whispers attached so I'm thinking about changing it to a Aquaclear 110.
So, What my actual question is here: Since this is a previously used tank, that is only been drained and moved within a week, if I use the same filters will the cycling be completed faster or will I have to start all over.
I'm thinking about almost stripping this tank bear and starting over with what I would like to put in: An aquaclear 110, 1 or 2 Koralia 750's and maybe a sponge filter to add to some bacteria build up. I'll keep the heater for now, not sure if I'm gonna try and start a community tank for the first run since I will have to move this tank in a few months.
I know this is all kind of a random assortment of things here, and I haven't really decided what fish I would put in here yet.
I'm new to aquariums and am looking for some advice on starting up a previously used aquarium.

 

[Tropical boy]

The old filters won't help speed up cycling as the bacteria need to grow during cycling will be dead after 3 days of the filter media, substrate and anything that it is living in is dry. I'm not to sure about the filter question as I have never owed that one but someone on her will help you out. With a 55 I'd cycle it and then choose the fish tank style that you want eg community, semi aggressive or species if you reply which you'll get plenty of ideas as to what fish to Stock hope it all goes well and one last thing, why are you going to be moving the tank.

 

[Trout11B]

I'm in school right now and won't be able to keep the tank in the dorms over the summer, and seeing as how the job market sucks I'm not sure where the summer will take me.

 

[Trout11B]

Eventually I'd like to end up with live plants in a Northern United States setup, because I like the ecosystems up in these parts but certain legalities appear to be in the way. Since that will eventually fall through I'm thinking about Cichlids or some small community thing. There's a lot of options.

 

[Tropical boy]

Sounds good but not sure it would work as most( not all) central/ northern American cichlids are to big at adult size for a 55. For the most part many cichlids will shred your plants or just pull them straight from the soil. You could try a community setup and incorperate a less aggresive or pair of dwarf cichlids with some large tetras or less aggressive barbs eg denisons.

 

[Trout11B]

Oh right, I forgot Cichlids eat plants...maybe a rock scape is in order...anyway. Quick question, Since I see you have a 55 gallon tank, would you go with to Powerheads or just one?

 

[Tropical boy]

I have 1 with no problems at all, but if you go with fish that like alot of current you can add another it all helps and obviously if you have fish that like almost still water just go with 1.