AmQuel messing up my test readings?

sophiecat22

sophiecat22

AC Members
Jul 25, 2006
173
0
0
St. Pete, FL
My water parameters have been all over the place and I'm wondering if my switching water conditioners has anything to do with it. Here are my readings:

august 3rd
pH: 7.6
ammonia: 0 ppm
nitrite: .25 ppm
nitrate: 5 ppm

august 4th
pH: 7.6
ammonia: 0 ppm
nitrite: .25
nitrate: more than 0 but less than 5 ppm

I made a 25% water change after taking those readings and instead of using Aqua Safe like I usually do, I used Amquel because according to the bottle it "does not interfere with the biological cycle in aquariums...". After I started using AmQuel, however, my readings were really of the charts:

August 7th
pH: 7.6
ammonia: more than 0 but less than 5 ppm
nitrite: .5 ppm
nitrate: 5 ppm

I preformed another 25% water change after taking those readings and teasted again this morning:

August 8th
pH: 7.4
ammonia: .25 ppm
nitrite: .5 ppm
nitrate: 5 ppm

These readings really don't make any sense to me. I know what they mean but the results just don't seem to add up. I've had my 10 gal set up and running for almost 3 weeks, 2 weeks with 5 danios. The fish appear to be happy and healthy; their color is good, they're active and aren't swimming erratically at all.

Any ideas?? BTW I'm using Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit.

Edit: forgot to mention that my take was set up for about 4 years and was shut down for about 6-8 months, but with some water and a fish still in it. maybe this has something to do with the crazy readings?
 
Last edited:
well, because Amquel Plus (I dont' know if they even make regular Amquel anymore) removes chloramines, it has to convert it into an ammonia, thus increasing ammonia test levels. It also neutralizes ammonia (NH3) by adding a hydrogen ion to make it into the less toxic ammonium ion (NH4+). Ammonia tests cannot distinguish between the two species of ammonia and will give you a reading that looks bad, even when it's less toxic to your fish. I don't know what it does with nitrite.

Changing ammonia to ammonium does not interfere with biological filtration or plants because both are able to take up NH4, and plants even prefer that form over the regular NH3. The charge (+1) on it makes it pass into the plants' cell easier. Don't know whether the nitrifying bacteria in your bio filter care, though. Either way, they can still use it.

what do you mean the tank was taken down, but fish were still in it? did it have to go through a new cycle?
 
So in reality my ammonia level could be anywhere between 0 and .25 ppms?
 
I don't know what levels your toxic ammonia are at. The only thing I know of that reads only toxic NH3 is the Seachem Ammonia Alert stick-ons. I have them on my tanks, but don't wait for it to show any color before doing water changes. I take everything with a grain of salt, and when in doubt, do a 50% water change.

what is the history of the current cycle? how was the tank "shut down" for months? was there ammonia and nitrite present in the tank before you "restarted" it? how long ago was the tank brought back to life?
 
what is the history of the current cycle? how was the tank "shut down" for months? was there ammonia and nitrite present in the tank before you "restarted" it? how long ago was the tank brought back to life?
Click to expand...

The tank was shut down 6-8 months ago because I did not have enough time to take care of it as both of my grandparents were critically ill and later passed away from their illnesses.

I set the tank back up about 3 weeks ago. I tested the water a couple days after restarting it but found out a few days ago that test solutions go bad so I went out on the 3rd and bought the master test kit. Therefore, I'm not sure if there was any ammonia or nitrite present. What I can tell you is that when I shut the tank down, I searched it thoroughly to be 100% sure that there were no fish left and came to the conclusion that there wasn't. But when I started to clean out the tank to get it going again, I noticed something dart across the tank. It turned out to be my little otto that I thought was gone a long time ago.

Now I know that they can be delicate when acclimating them, and he had been in there about a year before I shut it down, but are they still very sensitive to poor water conditions after being properly acclimated in good conditions? He seemed to be doing fine in the algae infested but surprising clear water left in the tank (with no filtration).

As for the history of this cycle, I cleaned out the tank and got it running (3 weeks ago). I let it run for about a week and then added 5 zebra danios. My ammonia and nitrite levels were at 0 until I tested with the new kit. After that (about a week ago), my ammonia was still at 0 but nitrite was showing at .25, which I thought was strange because I was expecting to see some ammonia before I saw nitrite. It was also showing 5 ppms of nitrate.

sorry for the novels lol
 
So sorry to hear about your grandparents :(

don't worry about the novel! It helps because it lets us establish a history of the tank, therefore get a better idea of what's going on.

It seems that since the gravel was still there, that the bacteria for your biological filter did not die off during the "shut down". That oto is amazing! Fish never cease to amaze me. The only thing I woudl have worried about with him is that he probably suffered from old tank syndrome, where suddenly cleaning the tank would stress him because he had gotten accustomed to dirty water. But since he made it through the trasnformation, he must be fine! If it were me, that oto would become my favorite fish for making it through all that.

it sounds like your ammonia levels are probably OK, then. like i said, it's probably the break-down of chloramines that are causing the ammonia reading. keep testing and keep up with water changing. establish what the "normal" reading is after water changes. i'm guessing the biological filter will remove that ammonia/ammonium pretty well.

as for the nitrite, i've found otos to be very sensitive to those. i use mine as my "Indicator species" because they will start breathign rapidly as soon as there is any nitrite at all. To take care of nitrite, just keep up with water changes. If you get 0.25 ppm reading (the lowest reading on the API test), do at least 25% water change. 50% is even better. You may have to do these every day until nitrites get under control.

i've often found that the ammonia converting bacteria survive changes much better than the nitrite eating ones. anytime anything in my tank changes (like ich treatment, changing gravel), I don't see ammonia spikes but I do get nitrite. That may be the case with you, too.

anyway, i'm glad you were able to resurrect your tank and that one brave little champion survived. again, sorry about your loss (grandparents).
 
I suggest you read the label on your bottle of AMquel thoroughly. Especially the part where it tells you that Amquel causes Nessler reagent ammonia tests kits (the most common kind) to give false readings.It says to use one that use Salicylate reagents. Kordon makes one and now so does Aquarium Pharmaceuticals.

Seachem also makes at test kit able to read ammonia under any conditons, even ones which render Salicylate test inaacurate.
 
I did read it, three times infact. I wasn't sure which type of test AP was and I can't find anything on any of the bottles or on the box that would suggest that it uses Nessler or Salicylate reagents.
 
I always get a little extra ammonia reading when I change the water, as I use Amquel+. Whatever the mechanism, it does happen. Nothing to worry about.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom