new plants == ammonia rize

[desertgoldhound]

I got a couple of plants from a friend while I was up in Kingman AZ. lastnight some Anacharis and somesort of swardplant not shure what type. Well I put them in my tank becouse I know he keeps a good tank and I even tested his levels all 0. I brought the plants to my tank which also had 0 on ammonia and nitrite (I always test for new additions) well I kept getting this filling that I should retest my tank so I did a thoral test.

Here is the outcome.

Ammonia = 0.25
Nitrite = 0.1
Nitrate = 5.0
PH = 7.4
GH = Very Hard
KH = Med Hard
Iron = 1.0
CO2 = 12ppm

The only thing I added was the plants and some firtalizer for the first time. The brand I used was Tetra's FloraPride

Could this firtalizer or the plants have caused my levels to go up this high. There is no dead plants or plant matter for that matter. I called my friend and had him double check his and they were all still reading 0. These levels are kinda scary to me. I don't like these levels unless I am riding a bike (Cycle lol). What is your veiws I will be doing a water change after work today.

 

[desertgoldhound]

Moderators:

I ment to put this in the plant section. Sorry about that if you move it you don't need to bother PM'ing me. I know I posted in wrong section.


I know these levels are not realy that high it is just not something I am used to seeing in my tanks. That is why I am concerned also it was only 4 hours after planting that these levels did this.

 

[Ms.Bubbles]

Plants themselves will not cause ammonia or nitrite to rise. If anything, anacharis would likely decrease ammonia levels.

If you want to test fertilizer, just test clean dechlorinated water first, then test the water after adding a recommended amount of fertilizer. If you see a rise in ammonia/nitrite, you'll know ferts are the culprit.

My guess is that in planting the new plants, you stirred up the gravel and released some debris and such that resulted in an ammonia/nitrite spike.
If this is the case, a number of water changes with a gravel vac should help to clean things up.

 

[desertgoldhound]

Clean gravel one or twice a week. Now I have never tested after a gravel cleaning so this is probaly what I am seeing. Thank you much. Like I said before I have never other then cycle had anything above 0 (well when I have added fish sometimes but that is common) Thanks again for the thought.