Question About First Tank

I bought my first tank this morning and it is a 75 gallon tank that has already been set up for 1year+. The people who had the tank before had 2 electric yellow cychlids and a red tailed tinfoil barb as far as I can tell. They told me that they didn't know what kind of fish they were, only that one was big and the other 2 small, plus a 2" pleco. They gave me the tank, and the fish, and the filter, and the substrate, and the driftwood... but not the water. They dumped it out before they arrived and so now I have an 8" barb and 2 cychlids in a 5 gallon bucket (the only remaining cycled water).

Now that you know the situation, here is my question. If I fill the tank with new water and get it to the right temp/ph (they said they keep it at 72 degrees and 6.5ph) will the water be safe for the fish since the filters and substrate have been cycled, and should have everything they need, or does the water itself need to go through the cycle?

 

Dechlorinate the new water first with a dechlorinator, and then scoop a cup of the new water into the bucket every 10 minutes for 2 hours.
Surprised that the fish were able to live (survive should be the better word) in temperatures and PH almost the opposite of what they need.

 

you should add dechlorinator. it makes the water safe for fish.
the best one is prime.

as far as I know alll the bacterias for the cycle are in the filter so the water doesn't have to cycle

 

you should add dechlorinator. it makes the water safe for fish.
the best one is prime.

as far as I know alll the bacterias for the cycle are in the filter so the water doesn't have to cycle

Would have to disagree that prime is the "best" one, since it makes ammonia into ammonium which doesn't allow a new tank to cycle in a fishless cycle.



For OP: Did you keep the filter media wet?

 

Alright. Awesome. I just want to be as responsible as possible with this tank. There is also an impeller to move water around and from what I've seen, this model is fairly strong (but it is a fairly large tank) and the barb should theoretically enjoy it, but I'm not sure about the cychlids. It feels like this model may be a bit strong for smaller fish.

 

I would recommend putting the water in anyway, since the fish seem healthy. The 5 gallons of water won't be much to change the cycling process, and won't be enough to negatively effect anything. The more old stuff you can keep alive the better in my opinion.

 

I did wrap the filter media in a wet towel during transport, plus it was only about 45 minutes.

 

Would have to disagree that prime is the "best" one, since it makes ammonia into ammonium which doesn't allow a new tank to cycle in a fishless cycle.



For OP: Did you keep the filter media wet?

sorry.. I just see everyone recommend prime on here ^^;

 

I did wrap the filter media in a wet towel during transport, plus it was only about 45 minutes.

Was the towel wet with tap water?
45 minutes is enough to kill most if not all the beneficial bacteria. The bacteria need moving water (or at least water) to survive.

 

It was wet with the 5 gallon bucket tank water.