ack, false reading on my ammonia test?!

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gnahc79

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I've been getting light green (0.25-0.50ppm) on my ammonia test ever since I've been using it (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals master test kit). Curious, I tested my treated (NovAqua) tap water and then my untreated tap water. BOTH came out light green, not yellow (0ppm) at all :confused:.
I took my tank water to the lfs around 2 days after I started my tank. The test they used, a different one, showed yellow.

I followed the directions:8 drops bottle#1, 8 drops bottle#2, and shake. The booklet says the test is salicylate based. I know the lfs' test was different because he used 1 solution for the ammonia test.

What's the deal?


edit: I rinsed both the cap and tube very VERY well and did the ammonia test again on the tap water....light green!!!! What the heck??
 
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Hmm. Here is an old newsgroup post from 1997, not sure if it's still true (link here ):
"Kellie,

If you used a product that is designed to detoxify ammonia, like
Ammo-Lock2 or Amquel, you can not use a Nesler reagent test kit. This is most of the one bottle liquid test kits on the market. You will need to use a kit that is based on a salicylate reagent. This would include our Dry-Tab ammonia test kit. Now for the confusing part. All liquid ammonia detoxifing products do not remove ammonia. They mearly convert it to a nontoxic form of ammonia. Test kits can not tell the difference between toxic ammonia, and the detoxified ammonium. None of them!!

Now, the way to tell if you have ammonia or ammonium is this. The detoxifiers only lock up what ammonia is present at the time of addition. So, if your tap water have an ammonia level of 1PPM and you add Ammo-Lock2, that ammonia is now nontoxic. Any level higher than 1PPM in your aquarium indecates toxic ammonia.
Also, lets say you have an ammonia problem in your tank, its 1PPM. You add Ammo-Lock2. Two days later, you test your water and your ammonia reading is now 2PPM. No, Ammo-Lock2 did not double your ammonia. You now have 1PPM of ammonia that is notoxic thanks to Ammo-Lock2, and 1PPM of new toxic ammonia that needs to be locked up.

I hope this helps explain things a little better. Be careful, some
products have a "blanking agent" that wipes out all test readings. This makes the hobbyist think that the ammonia was removed. FALSE!!! Here is a list of products that do remove ammonia: Zeolite,Nitrifying bacteria, and DI resins.

If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Jack S. Abrevaya
Technical Services
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals"


so I should be using my 0.25-0.50 as my baseline???
 
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looks like I'm answering my own question...it seems the salicylate based test can give a false reading too:

http://www.seachem.com/seachemframeset.html

Q: I am using Prime™ to control ammonia but my test kit says it is not doing anything, in fact it looks like it added ammonia! What is going on?
A: A Nessler based kit will not read ammonia properly if you are using Prime™... it will look "off scale", sort of a muddy brown (incidentally a Nessler kit will not work with any other products similar to Prime™). A salicylate based kit can be used, but with caution. Under the conditions of a salicylate kit the ammonia-Prime complex will be broken down eventually giving a false reading of ammonia (same as with other products like Prime™), so the key with a salicylate kit is to take the reading right away. However, the best solution ;-) is to use our MultiTest: Ammonia™ kit... it uses a gas exchange sensor system which is not affected by the presence of Prime™ or other similar products. It also has the added advantage that it can detect the more dangerous free ammonia and distinguish it from total ammonia (which is both the free and ionized forms of ammonia (the ionized form is not toxic)).
 
Originally posted by Celura
Now you've completely confused me. :confused:

I used Amquel and Novaqua on my water when I set up my tank, and both my test kits came back yellow (0) for Nitrate and Ammonia. Is this wrong?
Click to expand...

All of this is based on craploads of reading from company websites, postings, etc the past few days:) :
- Nessler-based tests (single solution, usually paper strip tests) may show yellow even though there may be ammonia
- Salicylate-based tests (2+ solutions) could show green even though the water is fine. For me the tap water, treated tap water, and tank water was yellow for ~10-15 seconds and then turned light green, which seems to be what Seachem is describing.

I'm an ultra-noob that is a perfectionist (it's gotta be 0ppm!!!), so any experts please chime in :)
 
Thanks so much for this great information, Gnahc. I use the AP Ammonia Test kit (2 solutions) and get results just as you describe...yellow for 10-15secs, then ultimately, after "allowing 5 minutes for color to develop", it's green. I haven't used any anti-ammonia chemical in my tank...just Stress Coat to get rid of chlorine.

Curious, I tested my untreated tap water...after 5 minutes, it was even deeper green, or a higher level of ammonia than my tank water! Until I learn otherwise, I'm taking you advice and checking the reading immediately, rather than waiting the 5 minutes.

Please keep us updated as to your findings on this matter! Hope your tank is happy and healthy.

Margaret
 
Does your water utility add chloramine? If so, you could easily get an ammonia reading from tap water, often up to 1 ppm.

To check your test kit, test a sample of untreated distilled water. It should register zero ammonia. If the test reads anything else, something is wrong (test kit, tesing procedure, etc.).

HTH,
Jim
 
the water here does have chloramine :(. moboe, I still haven't got around to getting the Seachem ammonia test. I'm not sure I will since all the other readings (GH,pH, nitrite) are normal and all my fish (other than my neon) are doing fine.
 
I don't think its nessecary to test so much anyways. I have a ph and gh/kh test kit and thats it. I rarely have a fish die and all have lived a long time.

I think its only really important in the cycling phases to test water almost every day.

I wouldn't worry about it- if your tank is cycled and fish are healthy then waterchanges will keep them so. :)
 
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