Ammonia Spike?

[piratedninja]

i tested my water today and the ammonia was over .25ppm
ive had this tank running for over 2 months now but i did recently switch from gravel to sand over a week ago
and ended up changing like 80% of the water

could this change have un-cycled my tank?
i just changed 50% of the water so hopefully that will help

i havent gotten around to testing nitrites yet but i will soon

 

[toppman]

changing the substrate can send the tank into a mini-cycle which is probably whats happened 2 u, its nothing 2 worry about and should get back 2 normal soon

 

[Erised]

What was said in the above post is indeed correct. A lot of the beneficial bacteria that keep the water cycled are found in the substrate of the tank, by taking out all the substrate and replacing it you've wiped out a lot of them. That said, a mature filter will probably be able to keep things in 'ok' levels and you shouldn't have too much to worry about. The tank should be fully cycled again quite quickly.

If, for some reason, you ever change over from gravel to sand again it's worth 'bagging up' some of the gravel in some tights and putting it on top of the sand. The gravel will still contain the beneficial bacteria that way and will speed up the 'building' of it in the sand, which should prevend a mini cycle.