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OK, so I have my 20 gallon and my 55 (which is set up).

I am getting in some flourite, so I am going to set up my 20 gallon w/ plants and rocks. I was then going to move the few fish from my 55 to the 20. Then work on planting my 55. I don't know if I will be moving any of those fish back to the 55.
I have 2 AquaClear 200s in my 55. And I was going to get a 150 for the 20.

Any recommendations on the best way to do this? How long will the biological filters be OK without fish in the tank?

Christina

The bacteria that is considered the biofilter needs to be fed just like any other living organism. It also needs the oxygen that the filter provides. Plant only or hospital tanks are sometimes kept cycled by adding a few drops pure ammonia (no color, no scent) as if you were doing a fishless cycle.
If you're switching substrates the best thing to do is keep some of the old gravel either in a pair of pantyhose hung near the filter, or a shallow container (I've found that clean take out containers work well) for 3-4 weeks while the bacteria colonizes the new substrate.
HTH a bit .

^_^

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I just did something similar. I added florite to my 55G. What I did was add the florite under my existing gravel. This did a few things for me. One once the dust settled it kept it from getting stirred up as much. Also since I did not remove the gravel I didn't get a mini cycle. Just make sure the roots can get to the florite when you plant. That's my $0.02.

Does the flourite not move when vacuuming the tank? I'm going to have a mix of gravel and flourite...

The florite is just like gravel, it just is a bit dusty when you disturb it. Gravel vacs shouldn't disturb it too much. If it does get disturbed the water clears up over night.