When ammonia tests go bad....

Thanks again, everyone.
My 55g is still really cloudy tonight, which is worrying me. Plus, at the nearest lfs, the API ammonia test kits on the shelf are as old or older than the one I have at home.
Tomorrow, I'll try another store.
To answer fishorama, no, I didn't do any crazy filter cleaning. This tank has been cycled and stable for three years, with my maintenance schedule of a 50% water change per week. If for some reason my bacteria colony has died off, I'm not sure why that would happen.
I'll post back my results once I can find an up-to-date test kit.
 
Could your water conditioner be expired? That could cause a bacteria die off.
 
I had an old ammonia test kit that I should have thrown out but I "tested the test" periodically with straight ammonia to make sure it still worked, and it always did. When the test actually stopped working the solution started turning purple instead of a shade of green. If you are getting a positive ammonia reading and you have a cloudy tank I am pretty darned sure your test is working fine and you have an ammonia problem.
 
Jspigs said:
Could your water conditioner be expired? That could cause a bacteria die off.
Click to expand...

Yikes. I think that's what happened. I've been out of prime for a couple of weeks. The water change before the last, I didn't use Ammolock, but an old sample of Chlor-Out that I've had for years. I had no idea that water conditioners expire.:mad:

This bites. I feel really bad. I just got a brand new ammonia test today, and it's at least a 4. I still don't get how the cycle could be this extreme with only one betta in there. Do trumpet snails add that much to the bioload? It almost makes me wonder if a gecko or something didn't fall in the tank and die.

Anyway, looks like I'm in for a fishy cycle. Time to go do a water change.
 
remember... ammo-lock will give a "false" positive as well. As with prime, it's not really false, because the ammonia IS there, but it is chemically bound and harmless to the
 
I doubt it's the chloramine. If it were that the fish would have died. You probably just have a lot of ammonia in your tap water, I know I do.
 
Maybe a snail die-off, hard to tell with mts since they're in the substrate so much. Do lots of WCs & double dose Prime.

Sodium thiosulphate takes a really long time to go bad & my chemist husband said you can tell by the awful smell, it's a different dechlor than Prime. But it just breaks the chloramine bond (if that's what you have) it doesn't neutralize ammonia. I'm not familiar with that brand. Prime also takes a really long time to go bad. I think it's probably something else.

Good luck
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom