Setting up a new 30 gallon tank and changing a 5 gallon one

[Ketias]

Hey everyone. I posted awhile ago about 3 goldfish in a 5 gallon tank (newb mistake!). I recently got my hands on a used 30 gallon tank. I want to move the goldfish into the 30 gallon and maybe see if I can keep a Betta and smaller tankmates with it in the 5 gallon. I've been reading up and, so far, it seems like I can put minnows, loaches and guppies in with the goldfish (corrections on this are extremely welcome). But before I even fill this tank up, I have a few questions (I'd like to reduce the amount of stupid mistakes I do from hundreds to maybe a few only haha ):

1) My 5 gallon tank is cycled. Adding some of the gravel from that tank into the 30 gallon should help it cycle even faster, correct?

2) I was given an unknown filter. Here's a picture of it:
http://i54.tinypic.com/2q2jx55.jpg

The closest I can find to a name is one called a Skilter 250, but I know nothing about it. Is it even usable in its current condition? Something in the middle is missing according to some pictures I see.

3) I was also given a large rock. Here's a picture of it:
http://i52.tinypic.com/hx9hl0.jpg

It has a weird texture and has a bunch of thin, little lines in the small mounds. Is there anything that is interesting about it?

4) Are there any plants that anyone can recommend for the tank? I know nothing about plants so far, but I'd really like to try my hand at ditching plastic plants.

Any responses are extremely welcome and appreciated!

 

[Dwohlge1]

Your story sounds allot like mine. I got a 10 gallon and two Fancies (same mistake). I setup a 25 gallon and moved them right over. I wasn't doing enough water changes and my ammonia spiked way up.

If you want to save yourself the headache I would read up on fishless cycles. Right now I am doing daily eater changes to fight off the ammonia. Also be sure to feed the fish sparingly while you tank is cycling. My 25 g has been up for 3 weeks. I just added a cup full of my old tanks gravel last night I will let you know how it goes.

 

[siva]

For the five gallon I would not add anything with the betta. IMHO, a betta is the only fish that is appropriate at mature size in a 5 gal tank and a 5 gal wouldn't give him enough room with other fish in there as well. If you're brave enough you could try ADF's. I'm always scared one of my males will kill them so I haven't tried but lots of people have success with it. Ghost shrimp would be fine but most males eat them. I keep a small nerite snail with my males and that's it and it seems to be appropriate for that size tank since a weekly partial water change keeps the parameters perfect.

 

[Scraps]

Your filter looks like a Whisper to me, big thing if you want to use it make sure the propelor spins good. and it not rackety noisy mess because it won't work properly. And the filter cartridge fits properly
My advice having aquired a few used tanks myself, ditch it and save the headache and get something nice we've got Marineland Biowheel that I barely hear ours is a 30 tall

 

[Dwohlge1]

I have a marineland biowheel as well it's great. You would need the 150. It's a three stage filter

 

[Ketias]

Your story sounds allot like mine. I got a 10 gallon and two Fancies (same mistake). I setup a 25 gallon and moved them right over. I wasn't doing enough water changes and my ammonia spiked way up.

If you want to save yourself the headache I would read up on fishless cycles. Right now I am doing daily eater changes to fight off the ammonia. Also be sure to feed the fish sparingly while you tank is cycling. My 25 g has been up for 3 weeks. I just added a cup full of my old tanks gravel last night I will let you know how it goes.

Do keep me posted on that! I'll be trying that too when I get around to filling this up and would love to know how it goes for you.

For the five gallon I would not add anything with the betta. IMHO, a betta is the only fish that is appropriate at mature size in a 5 gal tank and a 5 gal wouldn't give him enough room with other fish in there as well. If you're brave enough you could try ADF's. I'm always scared one of my males will kill them so I haven't tried but lots of people have success with it. Ghost shrimp would be fine but most males eat them. I keep a small nerite snail with my males and that's it and it seems to be appropriate for that size tank since a weekly partial water change keeps the parameters perfect.

That's quite unfortunate since I was thinking of getting ghost shrimps. I love how they look! I might give the ADFs a try and see how it goes, though I'll probably add only one and see how they do for a month or so.

Your filter looks like a Whisper to me, big thing if you want to use it make sure the propelor spins good. and it not rackety noisy mess because it won't work properly. And the filter cartridge fits properly
My advice having aquired a few used tanks myself, ditch it and save the headache and get something nice we've got Marineland Biowheel that I barely hear ours is a 30 tall

I was thinking of just getting a new one, but the person that gave it to me told me that it has around of a week of use only. I tried out the impeller like you said and it works perfectly and practically noiseless. Apparently, it's missing an attachment that goes inside (A protein skimmer. Still don't understand what it is, but I was told that skimmers aren't needed for freshwater tanks). I was thinking of taking advantage of this and trying it out with a filter media and see how it goes. If it doesn't work, then I'll be out only a few dollars at least haha. If it doesn't work, I'll definitely check out the Marineland Biowheel though.

Random question. Does using a specific kind of substrate provide any additional benefit compared to just using the regular colored gravel they sell in pet shops? I was hoping I could get it decorated with something like white sand to make it look a bit more natural than my first tank and its blue/red gravel with random marbles haha.