ADA Amazonia soil in established aquarium
Hi all,
I just ordered 4× 9 litres bags of ADA amazonia since I need to replace my gravel that I currently have in my 290 litre tank. I read several times that the ADA soil will cause ammonia spikes, ph and kh decreases and it shouldn't be added to a tank with fish in it. Then I read a discussion where Tom Barr states he has done this several times and never had any issues.
My plan is to empty my tank completely, house my fish in my old 160 litre tank for a few hours with my current aquarium water, change the substrate replant everything etc, later refill my tank with at least 30-50 % of my old cycled water, that I store in my other tank and buckets. Filter and eveything else will be the same, only difference is the substrate. My current water tap ph is around 7.6, kh= 6, Gh= 8, my aquarium water currently has a ph of 6.6 controlled by the ph controler for the co2, kh=9, Gh= currently 13-16, hence why I need to change my substrate as the gravel is very high in calcium and my calcium is 80ppm, stem plants deficient.
So my questions are does anyone have any experience in this and has done a similar substrate change?
What sort of ph and kh drop can I expect with my current parameters, aquarium and tap water?
Will my established filter, using seachem prime, and my large amount of plants be able to keep the ammonia down?
Any help appreciated!
Pascal