scrkpr

I don't have a problem, but I do have a question that has left me befuddled. A few months ago I set up a 55 gal El Natural tank. I got some of that really bad soil that take forever to settle down and still release lots of gasses. Anyway, here's a link to my original thread on that tank. http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...-new-tank.html
I was getting ready to set up a new 29 gal tank about a week ago and this time did some bottle testing. I turns out that ALL the soil available in my area is just as EVIL. So, I just used the old bag that had been laying open in my living room for the last 3 months. The tank has been set up for 5 days and I tested the water just on a whim. I expected to find really high ammonia and/or nitrite b/c that is what happened with the other tank. But NO I find all readings are 0. The plants are growing and there's a little brown algae starting even. Why would 2 tanks set up with the same soil, water, water conditioner, and even fed the same fish food react so differently do you think? The only thing that I can think of is that with the first tank I did a very poor job and the tank was very cloudy. With this 29gal tank the water was almost crystal clear right from the start (hey I learned from my mistakes). But I don't know if that is much of an answer. I would love to hear any theories you might have. Did sitting in my living room change the soil? I think not, but it's gotta be someting right?