First Big Clean

[acula]

I've had this tank for little over a month now and my cycle went well.

Ive just done a biggish clean on the tank and it looks great.

However, i tested my water and since the clean the ammonia levels have spiked, is this just because ive disturbed the gravel? Will my filter deal with it as usual?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

sometimes after a big clean you get an ammonia spike, coild be one of two things really

1 - if you overcleaned the filter you could have started a mini cycle which will take a few days to clear up

2 - you disturbed a load of muck when cleaning out the gravel etc, the muck then translates to ammonia in the water, because this is more than the fish usually produce at any one time it takes the filter an hour or two to sort it out.

just leave it a couple of hours then test again, if it's still there in a couple of hrs then do a water change, then keep monitoing it over the next few days so you catch it if it does mini cycle

 

[acula]

ah ok yeah, i must say i guessed a bit, i took the sponge out of my filter and washed out the gunk a little bit (in the old water, not tap)

I was concerned that the filter was slowing down and assumed it was clogged.

i'll keep n eye on water for a while then, thx

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, I've seen many say not to waste test drops right after a water change and/or clean, always wait some hours for a more realistic reading.

~~waterdrop~~