Setting up 20L

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Vincenia

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I went to Petco... couldn't stay away.. 20L tank for $20.. Can't beat that! I went right after work, I work in a small LFS, not a big chain. I got everything expect a heater and a light. I have it set up and running, temp sitting at 76, warmer then my room, which is 67.

I have my 4 yr old Penguin 200 running on the tank and I decided to put my 5" Female BN into the tank from the 37. I just did that, I know bad idea, but I just finished testing my water.

I'm shocked about the results, waited 5 mins: Ph: 7.4 Ammonia: .25-.50 PPM Nitrite: 0PPM(HOW, it stayed a light blue no change in color) Nitrate: 5-10PPM

That was before I put the BN into the tank. I'm guessing a W/C tomorrow. I don't use Prime or anything.. I have Well Water... Been using it for years never treated it and I had Angels breed non stop.
 

FreshyFresh

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Congrats on the purchase! I know it's hard to pass them up.

Have you always had ammonia and nitrates in your well water?
 

Vincenia

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Never had Ammonia and Nitrates in my water. I do have a well seeded filter on the tank to cycle it faster. Could that cause the nitrates to appear instead of the Nitrite? I test my other tanks and no ammonia in them and low nitrates of only 10PPM.
 

FreshyFresh

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All you should see in the new 20L is nitrates, given the use of the well established filter. You should be instantly cycled and ready to go, provided that HOB was used on a well stocked tank.
 

Vincenia

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I tested it before. Ph was 7.4, ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm and nitrate 0ppm. None of my tanks show ammonia, just the new tank. Everything is new expact the filter.
The filter used to be on my 37g which is decently stocked. From what I read Ammonia always shows up in new tanks even with an old seeded filter.
 

jpappy789

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I've moved much more stock using established filters and never seen much as a blip.

I guess, in your case, it might take a bit for the BB colony to catch up again, even though there's not much bioload right now. Or possibly some "gunk" already in the filter was disturbed from the transfer...

Not a huge worry so long as it doesn't linger.
 

FreshyFresh

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I've moved much more stock using established filters and never seen much as a blip.
Same here. Fully stocked, brand-new substrate, whole nine yards. Never saw anything but nitrates thanks to the used filter. I did measure the water params daily for a week or so just to be sure.
 
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