Expected ammonium peak (ADA Amazonia V2)

[Sebaquafly1]

Hi all,

I wanted to refresh my aqua soil in my 90P tank with (almost) completely new ADA Amazonia v2. The current soil is already quiet old and seems to be decaying. The problem is that I only have one bigger tank and that I have to put my ~20 fish, shrimp and snails somewhere. I do have a 50L bucket where I can put them in temporarily. However, I don't think I can put them in there for too long, thinking of two weeks max max (with plenty of water changes). Can leave the bucket quiet sparsely lit, so hopefully the fish won't be too stressed. I also have a spare filter that I temporarily use to help slightly with filter that water. I know aqua soil and especially ADA Amazonia V2 releases a lot of ammonium in the first weeks. (Sand/gravel is not an option for me)

Other important notes

• My 90P tank has an oversized filter (Oase Biomaster 850) with a lot of bio- and sponge filters that are really well established, also getting oxygen-rich water from skimmer inlet. So hopefully plenty of bacterial activity.
• I will use a small batch of old aqua soil in the new tank, so the soil will establish quicker.
• Have added 1/4 of water surface of 90P aquarium with floater plants.
• I am expecting to add about 24L of new aqua soil, the bottom I'll fill up with crushed lava rocks
• I am using RO water (~110ppm) with low PH (~5.8) in 90P tank

I am wondering how long I should wait before I can put the fish, shrimp, snails back in my big tank? Do you think two weeks is reasonable?

Curious what you all think!

 

[snowballs99]

You could just get out all the current soil.
Put new soil on bottom and cap it off.

IF your putting in RO water your ph should be fairly acidic and the excess ammonium shouldn't matter that much.

Amazonia 2 ammonia leech seems way less than the original.

Id personally just do a 100% water change next day then add the fish.

You can just do 2 water changes for a week and it should be done leeching, esp if it's capped off with old substrate.

 

[CincyScaper]

I’d expect your tank to cycle fairly quickly with the new aquasoil, especially since you already have an established filter (and likely other seeded surfaces in the system).

Rather than sticking to an arbitrary timeline like 2 weeks, I’d base it on actual parameters—specifically ammonia and nitrite. Once both are consistently at zero, you should be in a good place to start adding livestock.

In the meantime, I’d still do a couple of water changes to export any excess ammonia and organics released from the new soil.

Also, given your lower pH, the toxicity of ammonia is reduced since a larger fraction exists as ammonium (NH₄⁺), which is much less harmful.

 

[Beza]

I've seen it mentioned elsewhere that some people like to do such a refresh in parts - like take out and refill a quarter at a time, every now and then, or depending on the size of the tank even less. That way the animals can stay in the tank too.
I assume they'd use a hose to siphon the old substrate out.

 

[techman81]

I've seen it mentioned elsewhere that some people like to do such a refresh in parts - like take out and refill a quarter at a time, every now and then, or depending on the size of the tank even less. That way the animals can stay in the tank too.
I assume they'd use a hose to siphon the old substrate out.

I took notes from @Dennis Wong . Whenever I do a stem plant reset (completely removing bottom parts and replacing with top trimmings) I add a few ounces of fresh aquasoil in that area. I usually don't bother removing any old. I also don't really bother to mix the new into the old, I just poor it on top.

 

[Sebaquafly1]

Hi all,

I normally also use Dennis' technique of adding small tablespoons of new aquasoil locally. However, I noticed that the aqua soil in the bottom layer is breaking down and even when I deep-vacuum clean it, I still get bubbles coming from the surface after some weeks, showing that some proces is further breaking down the soil in the bottom layers. Also start to smell my aquarium more, even though I am keeping the tank pretty clean with regular soil siphoning. So I think it is time to take almost everything out.

I think I'll remove the life stock, take everything out, put in the new soil and cap it with the old top layer of the old aquasoil. After that I'll do some water changes and just occasionally measure ammonia. Good to hear that there is a chance that it could take even shorter than 2 weeks

Thanks all for thinking along!

 

[Koan]

put in the new soil and cap it with the old top layer of the old aquasoil. After that I'll do some water changes and just occasionally measure ammonia

For safety for your fish, shrimp and snails, it wouldn't be wrong to park them in an inexpensive 75L tank for a week or two, while you keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrates.



Just pick up a cheap hang-on-back filter and heater on Amazon or at your pet store, fill it with media from your existing large filter, and cover the bottom with a layer of your existing aqua soil. That way you will transfer as much bacterial population as possible for your animals while they're waiting

You can always use the setup as a quarantine later

I think your first instinct was right to use a little extra caution. Especially for your sensitive shrimp! It does not take much ammonia to kill off all your shrimp

 

[Sebaquafly1]

Thanks Koan for the tip, reading my latest message back, I think I haven't been clear. Definitely going to keep the fish and shrimp in the 50L bucket for probably two weeks. I''ll put a layer of existing aqua soil in the 50L bucket, add a heater, run a separate Eheim 350 filter with cycled filter medium on low-flow mode to help with the waste and do plenty water changes. Hopefully the fish and shrimp won;t get too stressed. I don't have the room for another (inexpensive) tank, so hopefully this will do..