Update:
Everything still looks really good, just flushed everything and added some fresh tea. I decided for the first weeks not to pour on top just to give myself maybe a little more edge for success.. a few refills from now I’ll try to carry over the old tea when I add some new if we continue to see progress.
I will say there was no foul smell as I had expected changing the old water. Kinda even smelled a little sweet.
Let’s give it a few more days