shrimpfreak Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Hi guys about three to four weeks ago I opened up a bag of Ada Aqua soil and put it in a five gallon bucket filled with water and an air stone. I periodically did water changes on the bucket. About three days ago I took the substrate out and put it In a tank that had sand in it. The tank has been running for 6 months before this so it was full of biological media. I tested parameters today and the ammonia was at 1 ppm. How much longer is the ada soil going to keep leaching ammonia? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 http://www.shrimpspot.com/index.php?/topic/2236-cycling-a-tank-with-ada-amazonia/ Read that thread. "The tank has been running for 6 months before this so it was full of biological media. " Were you dosing ammonia daily to keep the biological system running that whole time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julianzh Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 it will leech forever... at least happened in my case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrimpfreak Posted January 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Ok I read the thread as it turns out I have an alkaline water machine. The highest level gives a ph that looks higher than 8.8 is that too high? I am sure I could just use a lower level if necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrimpfreak Posted January 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Or does alkaline water have no affect on ph? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wicca32 Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 ada soil can leach ammo for a couple months depending on how much is being used. most of the time i hear of it leaching for a good 6-8 weeks so its not suprizing that its leaching at 3-4 weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrimpfreak Posted January 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 Well that stinks I tested ammonia this morning after adding alkaline water and it went down to .25 so I still have a little hope… if this doesn't work out can anyone recommend some good substrates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metageologist Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 Well that stinks I tested ammonia this morning after adding alkaline water and it went down to .25 so I still have a little hope… if this doesn't work out can anyone recommend some good substrates?Give it time you will need to do water changes. If you choose to change substrate. What is your goal to keep this would influence the decission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrimpfreak Posted January 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 Goal is to get this ready for cardinas I understand patience is a key aspect. I am wondering if I should continue using the alkaline water or if I should switch back to rodi for daily wc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High5's Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 I'd do a 100% w/c with ro and pick up a bottle of seachem stability or mulm bomb the tank with and established sponge. This should eat the rest of the ammonia and you should start to see nitrate build up, this means your biological is eating ammonia. A few more w/c to get out the nitrate and you good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrimpfreak Posted January 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 I just picked up a bottle of seachem stability should I follow the dosing on the back which says to do for seven days? Thanks to everyone for all the Help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyeGuy411 Posted January 12, 2015 Report Share Posted January 12, 2015 You should continue to use alkaline water until your cylce is complete then switch out to remineralized RO. Alkaline water will encourage the soil to leech the amonia out, switching to RO will just take the soil longer to release the amonia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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