Adding Fresh ADA Aquasoil to an established tank??

[REDSTEVEO]

Hi All,
I have been doing some maintenance siphoning out some La Plata sand from the front of the 'Full Monty' and I want to replace it with ADA Amazonia Powder. Not a massive amount, probably the equivalent of around a litre and a half just to fill in some gaps. Do you think It will be safe to add this without cycling it first? Will my two big Eheim filters be able to neutralise the ammonia, or will the new ammonia spike be too much and cause massive issues like algae, melt my plants or kill my fish?

If I must cycle it outside the tank what is the minimum period I could get away with before adding it to the tank. Would it be the same even if it was only a mug full?

Cheers,

Steve

 

[tim]

The ammonia spike will be negligible compared to your tank size IMHO Steve my concern is the dust kicked up adding aquasoil has a habit of being blown around the tank and is a real pita to remove, I've only managed to add aquasoil successfully via a tube and funnel, tube needs to be long enough to reach the area you want to add it to and add very slowly.Also daily water changes for a week or so after remodelling are always worthwhile.

 

[REDSTEVEO]

Thanks Tim,

I was thinking of having it wet in a small jug, turn off the filters get my hand down to where I want to put it and let it pour out slowly into the spots where I need it. What do you think?

Cheers, Steve

 

[tim]

I've used that method before and still dust everywhere, but I added quite a lot more than 5 ltrs and it was normal not powder, maybe fine mate worth having a bucket and syphon on hand to try and suck out the dust before it settles if it starts to cloud badly, let us know how you get on Steve.

 

[JohnC]

I've done it a couple of ways before.

in both cases i presoaked the soil for a few weeks in a bucket (with water changes) to reduce the ammonia spike.

1. like above added it to the tank with filters off and used a jug with a syphon hose to direct it to areas i needed it. did however lead to this -



2. froze it into small slabs and slipped it underneath the existing soil (again filters were off). tidier but obviously the more you do the more your tank water temp will drop.

tbh i didn't find it as bad as you would think but obviously adding in an ammonia spike is going to be a natural trigger for algae so just be super on top of things.



Cheers,
John

 

[JohnC]

oh and watch for it floating, soil iceberg style, if you try method 2.

 

[REDSTEVEO]

Hi John,
Thanks for that useful reply and the picture is a great insight into what happens even after you have pre soaked it in a bucket for a few weeks.

To be honest siphoning out the sand caused some cloudiness to the water but it soon cleared up with both filters going. So I guess it's just a question of whether I want to run the risk of what happens with the ammonia spike, I just didn't want to wait a few weeks.

Cheers,

Steve