Newbie tetra aqua start

[Pisces 73]

Hi, every one
Newbie here, who used to keep a small marine tank, but left the hobby about 10 yrs ago
I Have now decided to start a small tropical tank, and got a fluval flex 2.0
Filled it for first time today, and my biggest problem, apart from my wonderful chunk of lava wood floating, and sticking my fingers together with gorilla glue, is a high ammonia reading
I know you will get a spike at first, but literally just after the tank was filled, in fact , i only did the tests to try my new test NT labs kit
So tested my tap water ,all clear
So did some research, and read that , depending on whats in your tap water, some products break down the chlorine, but in doing so , leave ammonia
Surely, this cant be right
This is a new tank, and has one large piece of java wood, 2 java ferns, and 2 anibis
I am fully expecting an ammonia spike, and could well have done something wrong, but not this soon

 

[Essjay]

Some water companies use chloramine to disinfect tap water; this is ammonia and chlorine joined together. Almost all water conditioners split chloramine and remove the chlorine part, leaving ammonia in the water, and many also contain a chemical to detoxify ammonia for around 24 hours, though it still shows up in the ammonia test. However, the amount of ammonia is not large and won't be the cause of your high ammonia reading.

Can I ask what exactly you have in your tank, anything other than the wood and the plants? For example, some substrates for plant growth are known to release ammonia, sometimes for months.
One thing you could try is to fill a bucket with tap water and test it for ammonia to confirm that tap water does not have any ammonia. Then remove the wood from the tank and leave it in the bucket of water for a couple of days, then test for ammonia again. If ammonia goes up in the bucket, the wood the cause of the ammonia spike; if the ammonia stays at zero, something else is causing the spike.
Then repeat for anything else in the tank.

 

[Pisces 73]

I have aprox 610 grams of tropica substrate, covered by 1 cm of gravel, this is just in the back lefthand and front righthand corner,, all covered in 1-2 cms of sand
My java wood, which is big, not sure of the weight, but takes up about 5-7litres off my water capacity,
And plants as mentioned
And one 1 litre tupperware container filled with gravel, to hold my floaty java wood down

 

[Essjay]

A quick search suggests that Tropica plant substrate is one of those which releases ammonia. If you have some spare, testing it in a bucket of water will show whether or not it is the culprit.

If it is the substrate you have the choice or removing it or leaving it there and using the resulting ammonia to start a fishless cycle.

 

[Pisces 73]

Never crossed my mind that it could be that
Think i will leave it in to start my cycle, but be more aware of any substrate i use in the future
The ammonia itself isnt the problem, i want to cycle the tank, but what was causing it so quickly is
Thanks for the replies

 

[anewbie]

Plant stubstrate have a lot of ammonia because plants LOVE ammonia yum yum yum. So while you are starting to cycle the tank i would also add a bunch of plants as the substrate will quickly (though quickly is a relative term) be exhausted and then it will just be muck.

 

[Pisces 73]

Right, new suspect is the java wood
Was told it had been well soaked, but, as i found out when i put it in the tank, it obviously had'nt
Releasing tannins, looks like a blackwater tank, i quite like it, and so do some pf the prime stocking options ,for a tank of this size
Dont think i will go down that road, though

 

[Pisces 73]

---

so,1 week in and the cycling seems to be going ok, ammonia is dropping, and getting nitrate and nitrite readings, using the nt labs kit
Few minor set backs.
My java wood leeched a bit more tannin than expected, but it is finally fully waterlogged, but going to leave the bag of gravel on for a few more days, but took it off for an hour today, and the wood stayed put
I have 2 trays of fluval bio max and 2 of the sponges in the filter, not running the carbon yet, but will be going in soon