New 20 gallon tank. Ideas?

[Rowzy]

The other day, my roommate that works at petco had somebody drop off a 20 gallon high tank that they no longer wanted while she was at work. Long story short, nobody at the store wanted it either, so my roommate offered it to me, and now I have another tank.

The tank had 1 rosy barb, 3 cardinal tetras and 2 otos in it when I got it. However, the tank didn't have a heater (from what I understand it broke), so I put the fish in my 10 gallon quarantine for now. Unfortunately all the fish were in pretty bad shape, and I'm pretty sure the rosy barb has ich (not sure though, because it's just one big white spot on its side). Now all that are left are the rosy barb and 1 oto.

Anyways, if the remaining fish pull through they will go in my 55 gallon (which has mostly tetras and barbs).

The tank itself came with:

A double stand. Pretty sure this is the exact one: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...4144&subref=AA
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem sturdy at all. Does anybody have one and can tell me if they are sturdy enough without the bottom tank?

2 light fixtures. Both are 18" T8 bulbs I believe. One works, it has a Zoo Med Tropic sun light. The other one has a GE bulb, and needs a new starter (according to a note left on the box).

A whisper HOB filter. Not sure if this works.

Gravel, a bunch of driftwood and a big rock. Should I replace this stuff, since theres a possibility that there was ich/some other parasite/disease in the tank? Or if I let it dry out completely will it be safe?

Now my questions:

Is there a good way to ensure that the tank is completely free of whatever is killing the fish that were in it?

With the lights that came with the tank, will I be able to grow live plants? From what I understand, I can grow low light plants with just one of the fixtures?

Any suggestions on what fish to put in the tank? I want it to be different from my other two tanks, which are a 10 gallon with a betta and tetras and a 55 with tetras and barbs. I'm thinking Rams, Guppies or Mollies, depending on what the pH of the tank tests as. The city water is apparently normally around 7.6ish but my tanks have always tested as 6.4-7.2, depending on the tank and time of the year.

[fishrawesome123]

If you have a drill just ad a cross bar on the bottom of the stand and it should work pretty well. The best way to make sure the tanks all clean is empty it COMPLETELY fill it up with water and throw some bleach in it (let it sit for 2 hours) then rinse very very well to ensure no bleach is left. The lights will work for any plants right now i have my 10 gallons plants growing like weeds with a regular desk lamp. Let your water sit in a jug for about 15-20 minutes when you get it out of the tap because believe it or not your water has a trace of ammonia, also guppies are very prone to ich and many other diseases i personally like minnows and goldfish, it all depends on what you think is cool.

[wooferkitty]

let the parts air dry before and rinse thoroughly and the spare parts will be fine the fresh air will kill good bad and ugly bacteria just let it all dry for a few days to be sure.

as for plants stick with low light plants with a 20g tall remember light diminishes exponentially the further it is from the plant and it has to go threw water. (don't let this scare you lol) stick with low light level plants and you will be fine. also use plant substrate or an UG filter.

[emc7]

Gravel of any depth is really hard to completely dry. You end up needing to spread it flat. If you treat this tank with whatever cures the sick fish, it should be okay. But if all the fish in QT die, I would totally do the bleach thing. Starters are cheap and easy, little round cylinder that you twist to remove. Look for new ones at the hardware store.

[graceful.04]

I just received Discus and from what people have told me, they like tall aquariums. Another favorite fish of mine is Glass Catfish. Put five or so of them together with some other slow moving fish and it would make a great tank