ammonia

[wanda_crab]

RTR - Is that because with Nessler's reagent, it reads total ammonia (ammonia + ammonium) and Salicylate based tests only read ammonia? Also, how can I tell which type of kit I have? I don't have mine in front of me, but the last time I was trying to determine this, I couldn't find any indication in my kits (either on the boxes or in the enclosed literature). I've been using tetra test kits and Mardel test strips.

 

[wetmanNY]

"Nessler kits have one reagent, that is, a single bottle of liquid or one tablet to dissolve in your water sample. If your ammonia test kit registers in shades of amber, it's Nessler...

The other type of kit is salicylate based, with two sets of reagents. If your ammonia test kit registers in shades of yellow to green to blue, it's salicylate. Salicylate test kits are unaffected by AmQuel and similar products, but they do take longer to develop a reading..."

-- www.skepticalaquarist.com

 

[wanda_crab]

Thanks, wetmanNY! I use the tetra for testing ammonia as it is easier to judge the colors against the chart, now I know it is salicylate based.

 

[elmj]

i'm using hagen's tyest kit. and after water change with anti chlorine it has gone down a little but not much!