I've just bought a tropical Tetra fish tank. I've added gravel, substrate, plants, bogwood, heater and filter and turned it on. I then added an airstone and air pump.

I'm not sure whether to add the chemicals to dechlorinate the water and whether I need to add the bacteria? I'm in no rush to add fish. Happy to wait a few weeks. But are the chemicals really necessary?

My reason for pausing is that I added chemicals in fish tanks in the past and got a sticky substance on the surface?