# Adding Aquasoil to an established tank



## captain_bu (Oct 20, 2007)

You may be able to get away with cycling the aquasoil in a bucket since you will need such a small amount of aquasoil for a 5 gallon tank. The problem is that aquasoil breaks down very easily when wet so care needs to be taken when moving it to the tank but the amount you will have to move should make it easier to do.


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## alan j t (Feb 13, 2008)

i tried it "in a bucket method", i still killed everything in my tank, only the plants survived.


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## captain_bu (Oct 20, 2007)

alan j t said:


> i tried it "in a bucket method", i still killed everything in my tank, only the plants survived.


The only way it would kill everything in the tank is if you didn't check for ammonia before transferring it... 

Regardless of substrate type never cycle a tank without testing for ammonia until the level is zero.


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## RayT (Aug 27, 2010)

Thanks captain_bu and alan j t for your input. I should be starting this tonight, wish me luck (and patience:icon_cool!)!


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## alan j t (Feb 13, 2008)

it was cycled. disturbing it and adding it to a tank messed it up.


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## ReefkprZ (Aug 21, 2010)

alan j t said:


> it was cycled. disturbing it and adding it to a tank messed it up.


that means it was partially cycled, moving a fully cycled aerobic substrate will not "mess it up" per say. When you disturbed it you turned up and exposed the stuff that was not fully cycled underneath still leaching ammonia, even though the top layer was processing it so it appeared cycled. that is a tough call, and not absolutely your fault if you have no experience doing such before. before transferring you should have stirred the whole bottom gently then tested again.


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## willknowitall (Oct 3, 2010)

i tried add aquasoil to a existing tank but it was the reddish stuff african i think
ok first of all i didnt know what i was doing 

i tried rinsing the stuff that was a hugh mistake , it turned into mush very cloudy
then i just dumped it in slowly dry , not too bad , a little cloudy
then i found my cory fish messing around with the stuff all the time clouding up the water more
so i got tired of the cloudiness and casted it in thin layer of fluorite so it wouldn't get disturbed
i had to do water changes constantly
then i read later about how it can bump up ammonia like crazy
but no fish or shrimp died


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

When switching out a substrate once, I filled mesh bags with the old substrate and let them sit in the tank for a week or two along with the new substrate, thinking that I should probably leave as much bacteria in the tank as possible. I don't know how effective this was, but I didn't lose any fish. No real evidence to back this up, but maybe doing this would help deal with leeched ammonia? Just a thought.


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## utilities21 (Oct 25, 2017)

How to go about adding New ADA Amazonia to a tank that’s partially cycled and already has been set up with ADA Amazonia I?


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## natemcnutty (May 26, 2016)

utilities21 said:


> How to go about adding New ADA Amazonia to a tank that’s partially cycled and already has been set up with ADA Amazonia I?


Assuming no livestock (since it's only partially cycled), why do you think it wouldn't be OK to add more? Extra ammonia isn't going to hurt anything, but it may leach longer than it takes to finish the cycle.

If that is what you are worried about, just soak the new soil in a container and change water until it stops leaching. At that point, you can add it without risk to livestock.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


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## utilities21 (Oct 25, 2017)

natemcnutty said:


> Assuming no livestock (since it's only partially cycled), why do you think it wouldn't be OK to add more? Extra ammonia isn't going to hurt anything, but it may leach longer than it takes to finish the cycle.
> 
> If that is what you are worried about, just soak the new soil in a container and change water until it stops leaching. At that point, you can add it without risk to livestock.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


I though the tank is partially cycled because its only a month old tank. And i do have livestock. There's a gourami and 5 mollys in it. So if they are fine, i assume my tank is fully set up. ( i am a total newbie to the hobby. pardon my ignorance)

Now you have it. A month old fully cycled tank. Now if i add more ADA amazonia...will it kill my fish?....will daily water changes suffice?

does Controsoil leach out just as much ammonia? because , if not, can i not use controsoil instead of ADA on top of the exsisting ada layer.??...


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## ILikeRice (Jul 9, 2017)

Controlsoil barely leeches ammonia ..also somewhat similar to ada


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## natemcnutty (May 26, 2016)

utilities21 said:


> I though the tank is partially cycled because its only a month old tank. And i do have livestock. There's a gourami and 5 mollys in it. So if they are fine, i assume my tank is fully set up. ( i am a total newbie to the hobby. pardon my ignorance)
> 
> Now you have it. A month old fully cycled tank. Now if i add more ADA amazonia...will it kill my fish?....will daily water changes suffice?
> 
> does Controsoil leach out just as much ammonia? because , if not, can i not use controsoil instead of ADA on top of the exsisting ada layer.??...


I'm not really sure what partially cycled means... If you did not reuse existing media from a fully cycled tank (meaning it had both types of beneficial bacteria to process ammonia into nitrates), you are probably not cycled. Lower pH like ADA is hard to cycle, and under a month is very short.

ADA leeches ammonia to help cycle, and they give directions on when to do water changes. If you use tap water, then it will eventually cycle, but if you use RO, you will have to add carbonate of some form so the bacteria can grow.

I would highly recommend you test the water for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. If you don't have tests, you can take them to any fish store where they'll use strips to test for you. It's not as accurate, but it's better than nothing.


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## iWoodsman (Jan 10, 2018)

OK, to follow on to this discussion, rather than starting basically the same thread, I have a fully cycled tank full of healthy fish and plants, but with a natural-tone gravel substrate that I would like to replace with something black and grainier. ADA Aquasoil seemed ideal, but now it seems like a bad option to add to a living tank, due to the hassle of aging/washing it through an ammonia release, which also results in it turning into mud. I'm sure some experts can make it work, but it sounds like a great way to kill your tank if you aren't very careful.
So, what would you all recommend as a plan B? My primary goal is a black sandy look, followed by nutrients in the substrate. I'm wondering if actual black sand plus root tabs is the answer, or if there's a better way. I fertilize the water column, which seems to work well for what I have.

And, if I'm not using a substrate that needs lead time, can I just put the life forms and filter media in a bucket, and totally breakdown and redo the tank, as long as I don't take more than a couple of hours? Or is that too stressful for the fish?


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