I am starting to move back to school again, and I am setting up a new tank when I get there. I have gravel from an already established tank. I am going to start setting things up and getting them running on Monday. I was going to take the gravel, put it in my HOB filter (as filter media temporarily), and start running the filter for about 5 days until I go back to move more stuff in. The question is- will the bacteria that is multiplying be able to survive with regular water that is un-contaminated by fish, or should I add a few drops of ammonia in the tank? I've read where people take shrimp from the store and drop that in the tank too.

Would it be worth it to throw my two Biowheels into my established tank to get them loaded with bacteria, and put those in my HOB filter as well?

Thanks,
Joe

If you can run the new filter in the established tank along side the established filter for a couple of weeks, then you can set up new tank with established filter, gravel and put the fish in, in one move. Or set up the new tank with both filters, add your gravel and fish all in the same day.

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