I just flooded my tank after a one month dry start. The tank has a fairly thick HC carpet, 20-30 stems of s. repens and a small amount of blyxa japonica. I seeded my filter, an Eheim 2232 with a bit of ceramic biomedia taken from the filter of a cycled 5 gallon tank.
Here's a full tank shot before the flood to give a general idea of the biomass:
I've read that new amazonia leaches amonia into the water column when it is first introduced into an aquarium, and that the amount of amonia being given off by the substrate decreases with time. However, I'm reading 0 amonia 24 hours after the flood. I was expecting a large spike, followed by a continually decreasing discharge.
Since the amazonia didn't leach any amonia after the initial flood, is it reasonable to assume that I won't end up with a large spike down the road? I'd like to add my fish to the tank, but am concerned about am amonia spike from the soil.
I'm not planning on doing a cycle in the traditional sense. It's a 12 gallon tank and the only livestock will be one betta. Given the small bioload, I can manage amonia/nitrites generated by the betta with water changes. A huge spike from the amazonia would make this plan infeasible, of course.
Journal thread with more pictures:
https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=554650