I dirted a five gallon about eight hours ago. I just tested the ammonia and it's about 2.0ppm. All I planted was an amazon sword and I have 15w compact flourescent lighting on the tank. I have java fern but I am in the process of attaching it to rocks to put in there. Did I mess up? I used Miracle Gro Organic Soil like I've seen suggested on here. The tank is also seriously cloudy which I suppose could be from the white gravel I used to cap the dirt with. It's not a dirty cloudy.
I also did put a filter on the tank simply for water movement and to remove the particles. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Do a water change, or two, or three. Did you do anything to the MGO, like soak it, or even air it out for a few days? If not, it may have had quite a bit of ammonia in it already. Even if you did soak and drain, each batch is a bit different. Sometimes daily water changes are needed for the first few weeks, sometimes not. You'll get there with patience and water changes.
Vicky is right. And the cloudy white water is a bacterial bloom if you have ammonia. That's a good thing. That means the beneficial bacteria is trying to establish itself. So just keep on the water changes and give it some time. It will pass
Thanks guys! I checked the ammonia this morning, still high. Since theres no fish in there though do I really need to do water changes or will the tank cycle through itself? I absolutely don't mind doing water changes, I'm just wondering.
I also had forgotten to add a heater! Oops. So I put a heater in there and an air stone to get the cycle moving faster.
Well the water changes are more to control the end product of the nitrogen cycle which is nitrates. You let them get way too high and it could lead to an early algae bloom if you dont keep them under control. Try keeping the light to about 8 hours until the tank establishes itself. The ammonia and nitrite isnt really an issue unless you have fish in there. That's when its a problem. But just let it run its course and it should be fine. But deffinitely do about a 25-30% water change a day until it reads zero. Than u can add fish
I think ammonia that is too high can kill your plants, but I don't have a number for you. Maybe someone else does, but I would try to keep it to a few ppm.
You woul begin to see your plants burn. If you put some fast grier plants in there they w I'll eat up that ammonia. You could use water sprite or wisteria, etc, any fast grower stem plant or even a floating plant. When your tank is done cycling you can give them away or sell them.
Five Gallon Ammonia Issue 
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