GouramiFanatic
Aquarium Advice FINatic
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2005
- Messages
- 598
I had a 10 gallon tank that has been in storage for a few years now. Last weekend I took it out, gave it a good rinsing with warm water, filled it up with gravel, plants (fake), and some other decor. It's only been up and running for 5 days and I'm already reading a positive nitrate level 5.0 without ever adding / reading any ammonia and nitrites. Is this possible? Does it mean I can add fish now?
I'm thinking it's possible for a few reasons.
1- The gravel that I put in there had been in a 5 gallon bucket which still had a little bit of water in it. This had also been in storage for the same length of time. Would the good bacteria still be alive? I also rinsed the gravel in warm water before putting it in the tank.
2- I took a few cups of gravel out of my 75 gallon and tossed it into the 10 gallon to speed up the process.
3- I had the filter media for my 10 gallon in one of the baskets of the XP3 running on my 75 gallon for about a week so it was able to get some bacteria on it as well.
I'm just really surprised because I never added ammonia to the tank so I'm not sure if I still should or not.
I'm thinking it's possible for a few reasons.
1- The gravel that I put in there had been in a 5 gallon bucket which still had a little bit of water in it. This had also been in storage for the same length of time. Would the good bacteria still be alive? I also rinsed the gravel in warm water before putting it in the tank.
2- I took a few cups of gravel out of my 75 gallon and tossed it into the 10 gallon to speed up the process.
3- I had the filter media for my 10 gallon in one of the baskets of the XP3 running on my 75 gallon for about a week so it was able to get some bacteria on it as well.
I'm just really surprised because I never added ammonia to the tank so I'm not sure if I still should or not.