Help! Has My Tank Started To Cycle Again?

[daveyjay1]

Hi all!
 
I have had my 10g tank set up for a good few months now and it has been doing really well. Over the weekend, I decided that I would like to add lots of live plants to the tank. I bought some special gravel for plants.
 
I drained my tank and removed my fish, then I added the new gravel (it said not to wash it on the bag) and put my old gravel back on top of it. I then planted it up - refilled my tank and added back the fish (I used some water that was originally in the tank).
 
Anyway, I also bought some new Amano Shrimp to add to the tank.
 
I noticed that after a while the shrimp were not looking great, then an hour or so later, one of them died.
 
I checked my water stats and found that I had a high Amonia level (with no Nitrites). I quickly did a large water change to bring the Amonia level down (and the shrimp started to look a bit happier) but I am not sure what to do now. I am going away on Holiday next week (on Satruday) so am not able to do a water change every day then.
 
What would you suggest I do? Could my tank be cycling again and if so, what has caused this?
 
Many thanks for your help!
 
 
 

 

[the_lock_man]

It could be that you disturbed some gunk that was caught up in the gravel, and this released a load of ammonia. How long ago did you do the water change?

 

[daveyjay1]

Hi
 
I did the large water change last night, and did a smaller one this morning.
 
Thanks