Tons Of Questions

So i started my tank about two months ago,  55 gallon with two quiet flow 50s (Yeah the guy at Petco was a real slick talker), i have a german ram and two electric blues (had another blue but mysteriously died), 5 von rio tetras, 3 congo tetras(plan on getting 2 or 3 more once the pet store gets more), 5 harlequin rasboras, 5 cherry barbs, 5 corydoras, 4 Dwarf Gouramis and a paradise dwarf gourami, two african butterflies, and 3 cardinal tetras. So i vistited acouple pet stores and everyone at each one tells me something different which makes it seem they only really wanted to make a sale and didnt care about the fish. They told me the paradise gourami would be okay and wouldnt get much bigger than the two and a half inches it already is, and wouldnt be aggresive. Im trying to do a peaceful community tank set up but a few days ago i got the dwarf gouramis(had one but the paradise kept chasing it for some reason, not doggidly just usually when feeding time happened.) and i got two african butterflies because this chick really sold em to me nice. She said they would be fine with the rasboras since the tank is so big, and also said that since i have two 50 filters running together that i should be not worried about overstocking that will kill my fish from too much ammonia and nitrates, she said i should be worried about not overstocking enough since the extra 50 filter makes it seem like im filtering 2 gallons of water space for every gallon i have(if that makes sense) but now im just totally lost, i had some friends that got me into fish but they dont know too much. Now i found out the africans may eat my tetras(everything but congo) and i found one of my cardinals today with what looks like a half devoured head with the rest of the body untouched. I already called the fish store and they wont take the butterflies back, but idk if the african butterflies killed the fish or this blue crayfish i had awhile back(another slick talkin salesman that cost me all my neons) and the body was still there. Anyway was also wondering what the african butterfly eats and if you guys had any experience with these suckers, im feeding them bloodworms but they dont seem to go crazy for em. I looked on the web and it seems that the butterfly's a hit or miss in community tanks?
Anyway, one of my rams as a white spot(kinda looks like somethings just stuck to his fin) on his top fin and idk if thats ick or something so i put in super ick cure, BUT i only used half the dose because i couldnt get a straight answer on whether corys are scaleless or not. Also, how often should one use a gravel siphon to clean the gravel? just found out about all the stuff that gets stuck at the bottom, and my friends told me corys would eat all that but theyre apparently wrong, so what should i do? i did a 20% water change last week and now im supposed to do another 25% because of the super ick cure(powder) directions say to. Now when i changed the water last week i didnt know the method of cleaning gravel but now i do, so should i do a water change after tomorrow since it says i should 96 hours after initial dosing? should i be worried about removing too many beneficial bacteria?
Also if theres another water test i can get that you guys can recommend  thatd be great, i used these test strips and my friends said i only really need to make sure ph is like 7.6 and that the nitrates/nitrites arent high. Is ammonia a nitrite or nitrate, and is there a better test besides the test strip? it seems alittle hard to read and inacurate because it told me different things than the petstore i brought my water to the same day i tested it. 
Also, Plant decorum, are there fake floating plants? i heard theyd make the africans more comfortable but idk if they make fake ones that float, and when i do water changes, some sites tell me i should take out the decorations and clean them while others say to leave em while they have the good bacteria covering them. Please help! I'm an amateur fish enthusiast and the internet is the devil!
 

Phew, a few questions, somebody else will have to advise you on the African Butterflys (no experience with them) and I am not sure what your crayfish is but it doesn't sound good. If it is still in there I would be getting it out (but that is a personal opinion).

The girl who told you to overstock because you have two filters is basically talking rubbish. Stocking does not only relate to filtration needs but factors such as territory etc. With experience overstocking is possible but under very 'controlled circumstances'.

Using half a dose of a medication is pretty pointless and will have little if any benefit. Never dose a medication unless you are sure of what you are dosing for. I have never known a problem with using a medication when corys are in a system.

By doing a water change you are not removing beneficial bacteria, don't worry on that front. The vast bulk of the beneficial bacteria are in your filter and it is these that you need to protect by only cleaning the media in old tank water (not water out of the tap). One system I have has a 50% water change every three days with no detrimental effect.

Ammonia is the first stage of the nitrogen cycle (breakdown of fish waste, decaying uneaten food etc). Ammonia is converted to nitrite (nitrosomonas bacteria) which in turn is converted to nitrate (nitrobacter bacteria). Nitrate can be broken down by denitrifying bacteria into free nitrogen gas although in most setups this is rather limited. As you progress down the nitrogen cycle chain each compound becomes less toxic. Ammonia and nitrite should always be kept at zero by use of a fully cycled (mature) filter and nitrate should be kept to a minimum by water changes. Plants will also remove nitrate.

Regarding test strips, I use these as well and have never had a problem, others will tell you they are useless and will recommend liquid or tablet kits. In truth, no hobby test kits are that accurate. Consider a liquid test kit and adding a specific number of drops of a reagent, no two drops are the same size due to differences in the size of the dropper caused by mass production and size will vary depending on how hard the bottle is squeezed! Also comparing colours, whether strip, tablet or liquid, is very hit and miss and open to interpretation, they all tend to give you a general idea as to what is going on in a setup.

Why use fake plants? Why not use real ones instead particularly as a lot of the floating ones will also 'soak up' nitrates. As for cleaning decor and removing beneficial bacteria, the same applies to the earlier comments regarding water changes.

Well, hope I have helped a bit, no doubt others will have their opinion that they will share with you.

Yeah that crayfish, typically known as a blue lobster but its just a crayfish, was gone the morning after i got him. So i should add the other half of the ick medication now or like since im not sure just wait? I also have tetracycline (and a bunch of fish antibiotics a friend gave me like Amoxicillin, penicillin, and docycycline) and was wondering if i should maybe use that instead? Im mainly concerned about the white spec on my GBR's top fin and i have no clue what it is, it looks like it could be a parasite (just because he has blue spots on its fin just because its a GBR but the white spot looks to stick out more).  
 
All my other fish seem happy and healthy, and the reason i dont use live plants is because people told me once it grew into the gravel the corys would have a bad time, and they said that it was a major hassle i.e. pulling out dead plant parts daily, water changing more frequently, i mean im totally open to having plants, and i looked into it abit more but i didnt know if i could add them after the tank was cycled. Anyways also was wondering, my friends told me it was fine to use tap for water changes as long as you put conditioner in it before you put it in, and i also treat it with Nutrafin Plus, which was recommended as well.
 
Now my tank is cycling the ick cure ATM but should i put the carbon filters back in? When you say the bulk of the beneficial bacteria are in my filter, is that inside the actual filter or the carbon filter replacement?
 
Definitely helped me out with a bunch of questions, gonna go onto the forums for all my questions since these local fish stores are mostly unreliable 

to TFF! Hope you enjoy it here. Will try to answer some of your questions.
 
How did you cycle the tank? To read more about cycling, which RSV has done a good job of explaining to you, look at THIS.
 
I think it's great you have two filters on the 55. I have two Aqua-Tech 30-60s on mine. That girl as RSV said is talking rubbish.
 
Your stocking is a bit all over the place, you have 6 different types of schooling fish. These all should be kept in groups of 6+.
Doing this would be too much though I think (though am not 100% sure, sorry, I'm still not the best at stocking numbers)
The fish I'm referring to are the von rio tetras, congo tetras, harlequin rasboras, cherry barbs, neon tetras, and corydoras.
 
The dwarf gourami can be mean sometimes, it depends on their personality. Do you know if the ones you have are males or females? Males have a pointed dorsal fin, females have a rounded one. Dorsal is the one on the top.
Paradise gourami are more sub tropical (from what I've read anyway), so I don't think I'd keep them in this set up. I have heard of them being mean as well but again, these are what I've read, not experienced.
There can be a lot of variety in the way fish act as they all have their own personality. 
 
I would be putting the crayfish in a different tank. It's natural for them to eat fish. Claws + fins = bad idea.
People have had success with this, but it sounds like yours has already killed some fish so I would move it.
 
African butterfly fish like low current, and they will eat whatever can fit in their mouths, so you're right, a good few of your schooling fish are going to be in trouble.
 
What sort of gravel do you have? Cories like sand, though if the gravel is smooth their barbels should be fine. When kept on gravel they can be prone to infection though have heard plenty of success stories with gravel.
I had mine on gravel and noticed their barbels getting worn away, so I switched to sand.
 
Also yes, your friends are wrong about the cories. A lot of people seem to think they're a clean up crew and they are not. They need their own food. Meaty food, at that. Though some veggies is good too.
You'll want a nice shrimp pellet for them if you don't already have some.
 
Can you get a picture of your ram? Ick will look like grains of salt.
You don't want to medicate unless you're sure of what the fish have, otherwise you're putting unnecessary stress on them.
 
I do a minimum of 25% weekly water changes, and I vacuum the gravel when I do this. As RSV said, the bacteria is mainly in the filter media, so don't worry about losing it when you're cleaning the gravel and doing water changes.
On that note, please never replace your filter media, unless it's absolutely falling apart. Even then, you only want to replace a small amount at a time. Rinse once a month in tank water like RSV said.
 
I don't take my decorations out and clean them, well not all of them. I clean boats in one of my tanks cause they have crevices that do get gunk in them.
They do have some bacteria on them, as the bacteria live on hard surfaces. But cleaning them shouldn't affect anything since like said, most of the bacteria is in your filter media.
 
I'd think quite a few fake plants will float, as some need you to put gravel or sand in the little plastic thing they're attached to or they end up floating. So you can look for those.
I agree with RSV though, why not get some real plants? They suck up nitrates and are much more natural.
 
If the directions on the medication said to do so then go ahead and do that. This is to get any eggs(?) from ick out of the substrate. I am still a total noob on the life cycle of ick so you may want to have a look around here to see what I meant but hopefully that vague description helped somewhat.
 
I've never used test strips, so can't say from experience on the accuracy. I have heard everyone saying they're inaccurate though so I go with that.
If you want to pick up a liquid test kit, API is a popular brand. You want tests for ammonia and nitrite at the least, though nitrates can help too. 
As has been said, none of our test kits are 100% accurate, unfortunately. But they do help.
 
Your friends aren't quite right about the pH. It's best to leave it alone as it is, rather than try to change it.
Using things like pH up and down can cause fluctuations that stress out your fish. If you get them locally they should be acclimate to your pH anyways.
 
It's true most pet stores just want to make a sale. Always research at home first. If you're out and about and can't research, look it up on your phone if you have that ability, or write it down and research when you get back home.
Maybe you'll miss out on the fish, but if they've gotten them in once, they usually can get them in again. And it's better to miss out for a bit than to buy them and not be able to properly take care of them.
 
I think I got most of your questions..if I didn't, sorry! Let me know if I missed something or need to give more of an explanation.
Hope I helped atleast a little.

Okay so i cycled the tank for a week after putting in nutrafin plus, which says it can immediately introduce fish into a new tank. Should i put the filters back in right now or do you think that isn't ick? Its the best picture i could take and it does look like a piece of salt on his fin. Anyway the butterflies dont seem to be going for the bloodworms too much but the gouramis love em, the crayfish got returned to the store and the butterflies are eating the schooling fish now, already devoured almost all of my cardinals and cherry barbs but all of my harlequins are untouched. Ive been feeding the cories sinking pellets, but you say shrimp is better? Ill definitely pick some up tomorrow but should i bring these  butterflies back or could they adjust to a different food, possibly feeder fish or something like that? The store i got them from wont take them back and the only other store is way outta county, and im not gonna just put these guys down. Anyway another one of my rams looks like it has something i read about called like shimmy or something where it looks like its swimming fast but its not really goin anywhere so now im really concerned. I dont have another tank to quarantine any of these guys either, i have like an old beta bowl that my sister had from way back when, im going to do a gravel vacuum tomorrow and a 25 percent change it sounds like. Ideas on possible treatments? give them the full 2nd dose of the super ick cure? start em on a new dosage of it? Give them something else? Do a 50% change? Also how do you lower nitrates in a tank besides adding plants, which i plan on adding as soon as the tank gets better unless you guys think i should add the plants and theyll make the tank better, and also how would i go about changing gravel to sand? I dont have the capabilities to take out all the fish while doing it. 
 
 
 

Ah..most of that bottled stuff doesn't work. I imagine you're doing a fish-in cycle now.
 
What do you mean put the filters back on, did you take them off? D: Or did you just take out the carbon?
 
I honestly can't tell from that pic, I'm sorry. Maybe someone with better eyesight can help there.
 
Uh oh about the butterflies eating all your schoolers. I'd think if they didn't have those fish to eat you'd have an easier time feeding them blood worms and other things.
I'd separate them or bring them back, though I know you said you can't bring them back. Could you buy another tank to separate them to? They'd just jump out of the bowl and that's not a good place for them anyway
 
I would not be giving them feeders. They don't have much, if any, nutrition, and can introduce disease into your tank.
 
Glad you returned the crayfish.
 
What sort of sinking pellets are you feeding the cories? Shrimp pellets are sinking pellets. Most people do not know they need meatier foods and feed them sinking algae pellets/wafers.
 
I have not heard of shimmy, sorry.
 
Look up some pics of ick and compare to your fish. If that is what it is, continue treatment according to what the bottle says. Try and see if it's okay to use with fish like cories. I'd think it'd be okay but not 100% sure.
 
We reduce nitrates by doing water changes.
 
It is very stressful to change substrates while the fish are in the tank. I'd wait until it's done cycling to change the substrate anyways.
Can you give us the exact readings for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? You'll want to get a test for ammonia since your test strips don't have that.

So the ammonia tested at .25 ppm, pH is about 8.1( color was between 8.0 and 8.2)Nitrite is at 2.0 ppm and the nitrate is at somewhere between 0 and 5 ppm. Returned the butterflies and have carnivore sinking pellets, are those substantial enough for the cories? Also gonna go get some nitra-zorb or something like that. Now im told that for the ick i should just turn my tank up to like 81 and just not treat the ick and itll go away

Ah, the ammonia is okay for now. Nitrite is bad though. To combat this you can add sodium chloride..here are some instructions, taken from TTA.
 
To add 10 ppm of chloride for every ppm of nitrite in the water, use the following steps:
1. Multiply your nitrite reading by 10. This will give you the needed mg/l of chloride you need to add.
2. Calculate the actual volume in liters of water in your tank. If your volume is in gallons you must convert this into liters. (As a rule, using the advertised volume of the tank at about 85% will put you in the right ballpark.) 1 gallon = 3.875 liters
3. Multiply the number in #1 above by the number of liters of water in #2 above to get the total number of mg of chloride you will need to add. 
4. Because salt is roughly 2/3 chloride, you must multiply the number calculated in #3 by 1.5. You now know how many mg of salt you should add to the water. Dividing this number by 1,000 will convert this amount to grams which are easier to weigh for most people.
5. Do not add salt directly to the tank. Remove some tank water to a container and mix the salt in that, then add the salt water to the tank spreading it around the surface.
 
The carnivore sinking pellets should be fine, maybe once a week toss in an algae wafer to get some veggie in their diet.
 
You can treat ick with heat but it needs to be higher. More like 86.
 
If I may, and I know this is probably annoying to hear.. It'd be less stressful if you return or re-home all of the fish and finish the cycle fishless, with ammonia. This is covered in that article I linked to you.
It's up to you of course. Fish-in cycling is more stressful on you and the fish.
 
*Edit* The nitrite, increased temperature, and salt will all decrease oxygen in the tank.
To combat this you can 1) Add an airstone 2) Lower the water level 3) Raise the return bar (if you have a spraybar on your filter)
These will all increase surface agitation which is what brings oxygen into the tank.