Ammonia in plant only tank?

[Thomas Kang]

I have set up a new 20 gallon long tank couple of weeks ago with two different kinds of sand substrates - seachem flourite black sand at the bottom and imagitarium black sand on top.
And about a week later, I put some plants, some of which are root feeders, in it and aquarium co-op root tabs about 3 inches' grid.
(I am pretty sure I put them to the very bottom of 2-inches deep substrate.)

I know I should cycle my tank, and I chose to purchased a cycled filter at the same time when I ordered my fish to do the instant cycling.
Now I was waiting for both of them to arrive.
But things went little bit off. Fish will arrive couple of days before the cycled filter.

Then I thought like, 'it might be okay for a couple of days if I put some Seachem Prime and Seachem Stability at the same time'.
I guess most of you can understand what I was thinking.

So I did so. Now, something I never expected happen.
My water test done about 10 minutes later shows: 0.25ppm ammonia, 0.5ppm nitrate, 5ppm nitrate.

Prime and Stability might work together for couple of days to protect my new fish, but I am anxious about the fact that I don't understand
why this happened.  If it might be due to leech of root tabs, it might get worse even if I put the cycled filter and run it.

Can you share an idea and/or a suggestion about what I should do?

Thanks in advance.

[Guppysnail]

If you are using API liquid test kit prime reacts with the test reagent causing an ever so slight hint of green on the test. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Guppysnail

[Thomas Kang]

On 11/10/2021 at 5:17 PM, Guppysnail said:

If you are using API liquid test kit prime reacts with the test reagent causing an ever so slight hint of green on the test. 

Thanks for your response. But I know the difference between 0 and 0.25 ammonia on the API test kit.
It's definitely 0.25 and I also see nitrate.

[PineSong]

Did you also test your tap water without the Prime and Stability, and then tap water with both of those things but without the plants/substrate? Just to make sure you know where you are fighting those ammo and nitrites.

I ask because my tap water is sometimes higher in ammonia and nitrate than tank water for reasons at the water company that I do not understand. I spent a long time trying to water-change my tank out of reading for ammonia and it turned out my tap water without fish in it was reading higher than the tank I was changing.

[Patrick_G]

I’d put in the cycled filter and let it run plus be ready to do some water changes and using Prime  if necessary. It should be ok unless you’re addding a high bioload. 

[Thomas Kang]

On 11/10/2021 at 6:01 PM, PineSong said:

Did you also test your tap water without the Prime and Stability, and then tap water with both of those things but without the plants/substrate? Just to make sure you know where you are fighting those ammo and nitrites.

I ask because my tap water is sometimes higher in ammonia and nitrate than tank water for reasons at the water company that I do not understand. I spent a long time trying to water-change my tank out of reading for ammonia and it turned out my tap water without fish in it was reading higher than the tank I was changing.

Okay. Thanks for your advice very much. I will do it.

On 11/10/2021 at 6:19 PM, Patrick_G said:

I’d put in the cycled filter and let it run plus be ready to do some water changes and using Prime  if necessary. It should be ok unless you’re addding a high bioload. 

I am about to add 10 black neon tetra, 12 pygmy corydoras, 10 cherry shrimps, and some MTSes.
I hope Prime & Stability can manage this situation for a couple of days. 

[PineSong]

On 11/10/2021 at 9:42 PM, Thomas Kang said:

Okay. Thanks for your advice very much. I will do it.

I am about to add 10 black neon tetra, 12 pygmy corydoras, 10 cherry shrimps, and some MTSes.
I hope Prime & Stability can manage this situation for a couple of days. 

I have never used Stability so I cannot say anything about it, but I have used Prime for this purpose twice. In each case, I added Prime every 24 hours until I was getting almost no nitrites and then discontinued adding it and did water changes daily til all readings were good.

Another thing that will provide a buffer is adding in more plants like pothos cuttings. They soak up the waste nutrients and unlike duckweed and hornwort, they don't make a mess and are not hard to get out of your tank when you don't need them any more. 

[Thomas Kang]

On 11/10/2021 at 6:52 PM, PineSong said:

I have never used Stability so I cannot say anything about it, but I have used Prime for this purpose twice. In each case, I added Prime every 24 hours until I was getting almost no nitrites and then discontinued adding it and did water changes daily til all readings were good.

Another thing that will provide a buffer is adding in more plants like pothos cuttings. They soak up the waste nutrients and unlike duckweed and hornwort, they don't make a mess and are not hard to get out of your tank when you don't need them any more. 

Thanks for sharing. One thing, though, I thought that Prime doesn't impact on ammo or nitrite readings.
Anyway, I will do a daily water change with Prime & Stability until I see good, stable numbers.
I have already put some frogbits just as you mentioned.

[PineSong]

On 11/10/2021 at 9:59 PM, Thomas Kang said:

Thanks for sharing. One thing, though, I thought that Prime doesn't impact on ammo or nitrite readings.
Anyway, I will do a daily water change with Prime & Stability until I see good, stable numbers.
I have already put some frogbits just as you mentioned.

You are right, and I am not a chemist so please do not rely fully on my version of things. But from what I understand the ammo and nitrite still show up when tested but are neutralized/bound from actually doing harm for the 24 hours. 

There are others here who have a much better understanding of the chemistry. I should have paid more attention in school but I was reading books about ponies and staring out the window.

[Patrick_G]

An acidic PH helps too. I’m not sure of the chemistry but I understand it makes the Ammonia less toxic. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Patrick_G

[Thomas Kang]

On 11/10/2021 at 7:08 PM, Patrick_G said:

An acidic PH helps too. I’m not sure of the chemistry but I understand it makes the Ammonia less toxic. 

Thanks for another valuable tip. I added some Cappata leaves extract, but don't expect it will lower PH a lot.

[JettsPapa]

You'll be doing a fish-in cycle, which is fine if done properly.  Test your water often and do water changes as needed to keep the combined ammonia and nitrites ideally below 0.50 ppm, and definitely below 1.00 ppm.  I wouldn't add Prime other than to neutralize the chlorine or chloramine when adding water unless you're in a situation where you just can't do a water change right away.