Never done this before

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Ok, would you recommend trying the tetra safe start route ? I have some but didn’t want to add it unless necessary because I thought I had enough good bacteria moved over .but at this point I am not sure weather to test and to needed water changes or try the bottled route
 
I am not sure @Byron may be able to help with that question
 
I suppose the only way to test is to drop in some ammonia and see if the filter will clear it.
 
I did :) but my liquid kit is still reading all zeros

This is exactly what we would expect. Any ammonia produced in the new tank will be taken up by the nitrifying bacteria you transferred over in media, substrate, decor, etc. Zero ammonia and nitrite is good, and what you want to see going forward too. Nitrate at zero is not bad, because the ammonia may not yet have made it through the Nitrosomonas sp. and then Nitrospira sp. bacteria. And if the ammonia is minimal, from a few small fish, it may not result in nitrates at all, or in time low nitrates.

If you have live plants, this almost ensures zero nitrates at least for the present. All of my tanks run in the 0 to 5 ppm nitrate range, which means they could be zero or 5, but it is low enough not to worry.

As there are fish in this tank do not add any artificial ammonia, this could easily do something harmful if not deadly to the bacteria and the fish.
 
This is exactly what we would expect. Any ammonia produced in the new tank will be taken up by the nitrifying bacteria you transferred over in media, substrate, decor, etc. Zero ammonia and nitrite is good, and what you want to see going forward too. Nitrate at zero is not bad, because the ammonia may not yet have made it through the Nitrosomonas sp. and then Nitrospira sp. bacteria. And if the ammonia is minimal, from a few small fish, it may not result in nitrates at all, or in time low nitrates.

If you have live plants, this almost ensures zero nitrates at least for the present. All of my tanks run in the 0 to 5 ppm nitrate range, which means they could be zero or 5, but it is low enough not to worry.

As there are fish in this tank do not add any artificial ammonia, this could easily do something harmful if not deadly to the bacteria and the fish.
I do have some live plants but only in gravel. I plan on doing better for them substrate wise moving forward.
 
I do have some live plants but only in gravel. I plan on doing better for them substrate wise moving forward.
Nothing wrong with gravel or sand with plants, You can use root taps for plants that get what they need through their roots and flourish for plants that get their food by absorbing what they need in the water. You would be wasting your money buying those different aquarium soils because they wear out in a year or two and you have to replace them which can be a mess.
 
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Happy Update and another question. Did my partial water change this morning and these are my results from before the WC. I am feeling loads better.& My amazon order arrived and I think I need a crash course on seachem prime. Is it a replacement to my water conditioner? Or do I only use it when I need to “lock up ammonia or nitrite ? + got my the flourish tabs and split it 3 ways and placed by my plants in the substrate. Yay. Thanks again
 

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Happy Update and another question. Did my partial water change this morning and these are my results from before the WC. I am feeling loads better.& My amazon order arrived and I think I need a crash course on seachem prime. Is it a replacement to my water conditioner? Or do I only use it when I need to “lock up ammonia or nitrite ? + got my the flourish tabs and split it 3 ways and placed by my plants in the substrate. Yay. Thanks again .
Hi, your ammonia could go down some but your other results look good. Prime should not be added to a tank, it detoxifies ammonia, but only for a day or maybe two, then it returns to its toxic form. It is just adding useless chemicals to the tank which can stress your fish. The best way to fix your ammonia levels is to do water changes. Keep using your normal water conditioner:)
 
I agree with @JuiceBox52 do not use prime while you are trying to cycle your tank, do water changes your doing fine. Check the cycle your tank section on the forum. The only thing I would consider is using safestart plus but read the cycle your tank section first before you think of doing that.
 
Great thanks for confirming that. The bottle was confusing for sure
 
Comments related to the last few posts.

Don't worry about the ammonia. Numbers for everything shown are fine/good/excellent.

On the Flourish Tabs, I would leave them whole. Looking at your tank, place one tab close to the crown of that large sword in the right rear corner, about an inch from the plant on the front side (= closest to the front glass). If that is a lily/banana plant in front of the sword, another tab close to the tuber would be fine as well. Replace them in three months, and do not disturb that part of the substrate as these things can get a bit messy when disturbed.

Flourish Comprehensive Supplement (liquid) might help especially the stem plants, maybe half of one recommended dose the day following the water change.

On the Prime, it is not my recommended conditioner because it does more than is necessary and that only means more chemicals in the water/fish. Any conditioner that detoxifies chlorine/chloramine will do, though I do recommend the API Tap Water Conditioner when this is all you need (for chlorine/chloramine) because it is the most highly concentrated and that means less chemical entering the water/fish. This is a 9 or 10g tank, so assuming a 50-60% water change once a week you would only use one drop of the API Tap Water Conditioner. The smallest bottle will last you months if not years.
 
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