Drumm22
So let’s start from the beginning, just to be clear.
This is in no way meant to be condescending ,Just trying to establish a base line of information if you already know all this just over look it.
Fish waste, uneaten food, and decaying plant matter all produce ammonia. Ammonia is poison to your fish and must be removed. When ammonia is present in an aquarium, a bacterium called Nitrosomonas will start to form. Nitrosomonas oxidizes ammonia and puts off a byproduct called nitrites. Nitrites are also poisonous to fish but less than that of ammonia. In the presence of nitrites, a bacterium called Nitrobacter will form which converts nitrites into nitrates. Nitrates are significantly less poisonous to fish and are removed from a tank by doing water changes. Plants will also feed off of nitrates so having a planted tank can slow the build-up of nitrates in an aquarium.
Now, Moving gravel and water or established filter media from one tank to another will help in starting this cycle sort of like a head start.
It doesn’t automatically guarantee that the cycle will be completely able to handle a fully or heavily stocked aquarium.
The new tank may still experience a spike in Ammonia or nitrites until the bacteria has time to reproduce in sufficient numbers to neutralize these.
I think this is what has happened.
You will need to continue proper maintenance and water change to keep these in check until your tank catches up.
Dosing a product to neutralize Ammonia and nitrites like Seachem Prime will add a level of protection.
