Bottom feeder and Good Bacteria

Question
First question i have is, my father has an acclimated tank and i was was told by one other expert that i should take some of the gravel from his tank and put it in my tank to help with acclimation of the tank.  What i did was, i took a clam shell that was at the bottom and rubbed of all the good bacteria or "poop" into my tank.  Was this a mistake should i just leave the tank alone and let it do its thing.  Also i have to new rainbows and a Angel that i fosterd from my fathers 10 gallon.  The Angel has been in since day one and i put the two rainbows in about two weeks later.  Did a 35% water change and thats it.  The next question is should i get a bottom feeder to take care of some of the junk on the floor of the aquarium so as too not over load tank with amonia or will the bottom feeder hurt the tank with more "poop" and amonia. I was thinking of a blue cray fish.  I am in desperate need of some guidence, your knowledge will really settle my nerves.
                                       Thanks a Bunch
                                 Dustin from North Dakota


Answer
Hi Dustin,
It is possible to take some gravel from an established tank and help a new tank to get the good bacteria established sooner than regular cycling would.  You could also buy bacteria at your local fish store, I have used a brand called "Cycle", and this will also help speed things up. Remember the good bacteria help with the ammonia and keep your tank healthy and balanced for your fish.  Be sure to to frequent water changes since your tank isn't fully cycled yet and there could still be an ammonia spike and that could kill your fish. Add a water conditioner each time you do a water change that removes ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, chlorine and chloramine.  Be sure that the replacement water is the same temperature as the tank water.  Also, don't add fish too fast since this can sometimes be too much too soon and cause ammonina to really get to dangerous levels.  As for the bottom feeder--you will still have to feed any bottom feeder since really their job is just to clean up any leftover food that might have been missed by your other fish. Bottom feeders sometimes do "poop" alot.  You will still have to use a gravel vacuum each time you do a water change to be sure your gravel doesn't have alot of fish waste and decaying food trapped in it which is really bad for fish.  
As for the blue crayfish - be careful since either they can eat your other fish or sometimes other fish will eat them especially when they are molting. Here is a website that might help--http://www.timstropicals.com/Inventory/Invertebrates/index.asp  Best of luck with you aquarium!
Hope this helps!
Karen