We all see the advice not to overfeed in a new tank, and because we have read http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first, we understand why decaying organic matter is bad.
But just how bad truly shocked me!
On Friday I added sand to a Fluval Flex 57 - that's 57 litres or 15G (U.S.) minus a bit for the sand and air. I also added a few Malaysian Trumpet snails before turning the lights out for the weekend (who wants algae). Before I did this I added a single algae wafer. It was smaller than the ones I usually feed so I have attached a pic next to a UK 5p coin.
This morning (Monday) I tested the tank for ammonia. I did test on Friday and as expected it was zero. This morning my test kit showed a good solid 4ppm (pic attached). For reference putting a single fish in that water for one hour is a death sentence (it wouldn't die immediately but death would be pretty much guaranteed). Worse than that the algae wafer was still there and still producing ammonia.
But just how bad truly shocked me!
On Friday I added sand to a Fluval Flex 57 - that's 57 litres or 15G (U.S.) minus a bit for the sand and air. I also added a few Malaysian Trumpet snails before turning the lights out for the weekend (who wants algae). Before I did this I added a single algae wafer. It was smaller than the ones I usually feed so I have attached a pic next to a UK 5p coin.
This morning (Monday) I tested the tank for ammonia. I did test on Friday and as expected it was zero. This morning my test kit showed a good solid 4ppm (pic attached). For reference putting a single fish in that water for one hour is a death sentence (it wouldn't die immediately but death would be pretty much guaranteed). Worse than that the algae wafer was still there and still producing ammonia.