new tank - sort of

Question
Hi,
Question about a fish move, not sure we did the right thing.

My  neighbor, Jack, is moving away, and he had a 12-gallon established tank with 2 tetras, a molly, and an algae eater. At the same time, my son and I were trying to establish a 20-gallon tank to which we were adding ammonia, waiting for the nitrites to change. This didn't happen in time for the move, so I had to think quickly.

What we did was this: we took about 2 cups of the gravel from Jack's tank, along with a big fake rock and put that into the 20-gallon tank. Then we drained 90% of the water and put as much of Jack's water in as we could get in the move. We then had to add about 50% new treated water to the 20-gallon tank. I hoped this would allow Jack's fish to survive in the new tank, but I'm not comfortable with the ammonia readings I'm still getting in the 20-gallon tank. I added Ammo-Lock - should I keep adding it? Will it interfere with what the tank has to do?

Thanks for any advice you have,

Maria Capp  

Answer
What you did was fine, most likely what is causing the ammoinia spike is replacing the 90% of water, that still has to cycle with the 10% you had left in the tank, which kept your good bacteria. I personally do not recommend chemicals to correct water conditions such as high ammoinia as this usually ends up causing more problems than good. You can do a small water change, 15% and add a product called aquasafe, this product essentially neutralizes water and helps reduce stress in fish. Once you do the water change after a day or 2 check the ammonia levels, it should begin to go down. You may do a couple of additional water changes after the first to get the water chemistry where it should be.
Best of luck and happy fish keeping.