My new tank

Question
Hi
I have just got a octagonal 85 litre(20 gallon) tank. It is an upgrade from my little 20 litre tank. I think i was very lucky with my first tank as i didnt know what cycling was or anything like that but i had a 100% survival rate, i added fish slowly and changed the water when it looked cloudy, now that tank is happy and healthy. However i am worried about starting up my new tank as it is much bigger.

It came with an undergravel filter which i am not to happy about as i havent used one before. Should i change this?

I have filled it and let it sit for 24 hours before i added some snails, 2 guppys and a platy. They have been in it for a day now and the water is a bit cloudy. Where do i go from here?  

Answer
Dear Michelle,
A new Aquarium! How exciting! ;-) It's always nice to get an upgrade from a simple 20litre!

Undergravel Filters, well...They are OK. But they really aren't worth the trouble. They cannot move that much water unless a powerhead is attached over one of the uplift tubes and generally they are famous for harboring very bad wastes underneath the bottom plate. This is impossible to get out unless you run a siphon tube down the uplift tube to siphon debri out and even then, you may not get it all. They are an old standby, but If you can, just don't use it.
You'll have better luck, and be much happier with a good quality Hang-on-the-back power filter for your new aquarium
Penguin makes a wonderful and truly efficient power filter for aquariums your size and also much, much larger. Their Biowheels are very good for establishing large colonies of beneficial bacteria and their turnover rate is not comparable to other brands.

The thing you should do now is moniter your water in the 20gallon every day. Test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate every day until you get your aquarium cycled. If ammonia or nitrite is traceable, do at least a 50% water change to dilute it down and avoid ammonia stress to your snails, guppies and platy. Any trace of ammonia or nitrite can be harmful. Likely, you may have to do medium size water changes every day like 30% or if your levels have jumped--50%. Always remember to make the replacement water equal in temperature to that of your aquarium and always dechlorinate it.

Testing daily and water changes are your best bets for sucess in cycling. Feed lightly, and don't add anymore fish to your aquarium until it cycles.

Within 4-6 weeks your aquarium will be cycled--but it may be even sooner if you add a few handfuls of gravel from your current 20litre and take some dirty filter material and add it right into the tank or in your running filter.
This will speed the cycling process along tremendously.
I would still test the water every day and watch for any ammonia or nitrite readings.

Those two levels will rise and fall just depending on your aquarium. And nitrate will begin to appear after some weeks or sooner if the aquarium has had some dirty gravel or filter media. Once your ammonia and nitrite has dropped to zero and nitrate has risen, your aquarium has cycled!

Just be patient, test and do water changes. If you can get gravel or dirty filter material from your established aquarium, that will help tremendously in cycling.

I really hope this helps! Feel free to write with anymore questions you may have...

Best wishes and best of luck with your new aquarium!
Karen~