Aqualady40
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have a 55g tank that I ran for 4-5 years straight. For the last 3 years I have not touched it (turned pumps, lights, filters, etc... off and I let the water evaporate without disturbing it for the whole 3 years). I decided to clean it up and get it up and running again. Once cleaned and filled with water, I waited 3 days and on gp I decided to just check the water conditions (appeared to be going through a mini cycle) and wow...I had nitrates at 40, nitrites 0, ammonia .50, ph 7.6...wow...does someone know how this happened so quickly??? I went to lfs and told them, they test the water as well and got the same readings.....they said they believe some bacteria must have dormant in the gravel...any other suggestions? BTW..I was so curious to how fish would respond, I did get 5 tiger barbs and they appear to be happy as ever and going back and forth from one side of the tank to the other.....