Reading API Master Test Kit

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iGotPlecoed

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Sep 7, 2012
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I know I'm not color blind. Does anybody else have a difficulty figuring out what ammonia levels are at? I bought the master test kit when I was suggested to do so by the helpful fellers on this forum. It's pretty easy for everything but bad ammonia levels. When my levels are (super unfortunately) too high in ammonia, I cannot tell what it's really at. I believe it says look at it under the light with the 5ml tube in the white section of the 'reader card,' I'll call it. It looks green to me. Doesn't look dark green, doesn't look puke lime green. It doesn't really look like any of the greens on the card. It doesn't matter that much at this point because of the fact that I've accepted that ammonia levels are too high, and I've been doing 30-50% water changes every day for about a week now....more to come when i post my please somebody help my, new to planted tanks 20gal post coming soon. So anyways, can somebody give me a suggestion on reading these kits better? I can't tell if my ammonia levels are even going down because green to me it just looks green but not a specifically horrible or not as horrible green. When I look at it in light it looks bright green and when i look at it in lower light it looks light green. Either way I'm F'd and I've done F'd up again in fishkeeping (see posts 2 years ago when i first started in fish and I overstocked my tank unknowingly and so many epic failures amounted from my first try at keeping fish.
Okay so, in this post let us maybe keep it to, how do you tell what the test kit is really telling you? Sound good?

Otherwise, may I please ask where a self proclaimed newbie to planted aquariums should post their issues, I have details of every single day for two weeks of my first planted tank including fish, lighting, nutrients, growth, lack of growth, and btw, in the past two weeks, even with good water changes every day my nitrates and nitrites are 0 and my ammonia keeps running high. This is why I think I should post the rest of my issues in planted tanks or...somewhere.

Glad to be back to be back to this forum, it helped me in the past and now that I'm back into aquariums hopefully it can help me again.
 

zendx

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Jul 2, 2014
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Post in the planted forum? Maybe that would help. The only thing I will do with my API test kit is hold the card against a white wall as well as the white part of the card? Then go with whatever is closest.
 

Rbishop

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Mr. Normal
As above...and if just ammonia, if it indicates any color, I do a water change.....
 

FreshyFresh

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Jan 11, 2013
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I'm assuming you have fish in this tank? What type of cycle have you done (or attempted?). Like Bob said, IMO, any color other than yellow for the ammonia test would mean you keep doing water changes until it's yellow (provided you have fish in the tank). Once you're sure all is stable and the tank produces nothing but nitrates, all you typically measure for is nitrates. That test is the same in terms of 'accurate' readings. For me, as long as the nitrate test is yellow or pale orange, all is well. Red = you better up your water change frequency or volume.

Is your source water ammonia free? Are you using Prime as your dechlorinator? The only anomaly I've read of a few times is a phenomena where Prime can cause a false positive on ammonia with some source water, when tested with the API Master Test Kit. If you wait a few hours and then test, the test should show yellow. Something to do with the combo of Prime and the API MTK. I've never experienced it, but I've read of it a few times.
 

iGotPlecoed

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Sep 7, 2012
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I have one Bolivian ram in the tank and 4 neon tetras. I used filter squeezing from a 2.5 gal betta tank. I've been doing about 50% water changes every day for 8 days now. The tank is planted with about 20-30 leaves of java fern and the whole front half of the tank is planted with half inch plugs of dwarf hairgrass. Lost two tetras last night, gasping for breath. This is why I don't think it would be false positives for the ammonia. But I do use prime. I've never tested my source water. However my current routine is this: test water, do water change, then test right afterwards. I have seen about zero change in the ammonia levels before water change compared to right afterwards, so in that case it does seem possible that prime is messing with it. Because I lost the tetras last night I did about a 70% water change today using same routine, test, wc, then test and the ammonia levels barely seem to have changed.

I guess tetras are more sensitive than the bolivian? Because when I got it 7 days ago it was pale and shy. Now it begs for food and its' colors are a nice pink purple on fins and yellow has filled in so it seems healthy. The remaining four tetras seem good but like I said the other two were gasping, one was drifting with the current. I know I ****ed up, once again, and rushed into it but I've diligent in the past week on my wc routine trying to correct my mistake. I don't know.
 

jpappy789

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Feb 18, 2007
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What are typical levels that you're seeing?

You should see some change in ammonia concentration with a water change, unless your source water has some and you're essentially adding it back. For example, if you start with 2 ppm, a 50% water change should bring it down to 1 ppm, etc. I'd definitely test your tap to double check.
 

iGotPlecoed

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Sep 7, 2012
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Yeah that's why I was trying to read it more accurately cause green looks green to me I couldn't tell if it was changing. It's not yellow unfortunately. Next to test my tap. I'll do that tonight. Anything wrong with doing maybe even two big wc's a day till I get this cycle in order?




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