New tank frustrations - high ammonia

[TBallad]

It's been a couple of weeks since I added gravel from an established tank and I'm still getting identical water tests - high ammonia, high pH, zero nitrites, zero nitrites. Any clue what else I can do? Thanks!

 

[fort384]

The tank isn't cycling. What kind of filter and filter maintenance are you doing?

 

[Durvish]

Did you keep the gravel wet? If it dried out then the bacteria died.

 

[TBallad]

The tank isn't cycling. What kind of filter and filter maintenance are you doing?

That was my thought - it seems like there are no bacteria. I'm using the filter that came with the tank. It's an Aqueon. Aside from slipping the filter media inside the actual filter mechanism and briefly I had a water softener pillow in there (on the advice of the LFS), I haven't done any filter maintenance.

More to learn!

 

[TBallad]

Did you keep the gravel wet? If it dried out then the bacteria died.

I don't remember - a friend with a tank scooped some gravel out of her tank into a ziplock bag, which I brought home and dumped into the tank. It was probably at least damp, but not submerged in water. Total time from her tank to mine was less than half an hour.