Ammonia over dose

[Bonsai reef]

I have overdosed my tank with Dr. Tim’s ammonium chloride 15ml on 24g yesterday(~22g with dry rocks and sand in). I am at the end week 2 of cycle (empty tank). I added Dr. Tim’s one and only bacteria twice(last Sunday and yesterday along with ammonium chloride). Ammonia test came >8 and after 24 hours still >8ppm. Should i do a water change or will the bacteria catch up?

I have read threads saying >8ppm ammonia kills the nitrifying bacteria/ stalls the cycle and another saying the cycle never stops. I am bit confused.

 

[Scotty Buttons]

I would do a 50% water change, and add another round of bacteria after the water change. Then check ammonia daily to see if it's being processed.

 

[Bonsai reef]

I would do a 50% water change, and add another round of bacteria after the water change. Then check ammonia daily to see if it's being processed.

thank. will do.

 

[Bonsai reef]

After about 50% water change ammonia is still at 8ppm. Do i need to give more time to settle down or perform further change?

Note: I am using API test kit which shows total ammonia

 

[Scotty Buttons]

It would be impossible for your ammonia to still be 8. 50% water change would take or to 4. I would either get a new test kit or have your LFS test it if possible assuming they have a different brand test kit. API are notoriously faulty. I would look for either a salifert or red sea test kit

 

[Litlover89]

It would be impossible for your ammonia to still be 8.

I believe the api kit has an upper limit of 8 ppm.

If I were you, I would do a water change to get it within a testable amount, then add more bacteria if you want. I don’t think adding more is entirely necessary, but it may speed things up.

 

[Bonsai reef]

It would be impossible for your ammonia to still be 8. 50% water change would take or to 4. I would either get a new test kit or have your LFS test it if possible assuming they have a different brand test kit. API are notoriously faulty. I would look for either a salifert or red sea test kit

I will check with LFS and see what they get.

 

[Bonsai reef]

I believe the api kit has an upper limit of 8 ppm.

If I were you, I would do a water change to get it within a testable amount, then add more bacteria if you want. I don’t think adding more is entirely necessary, but it may speed things up.

I would if other test kit gives the same reading.

 

[Bonsai reef]

Strange that LFS did with salifert and it came out to be 0.5 ( they did it twice to be sure) and i am getting >8 with API. Only thing is api checks for total ammonia (NH3 and NH4) where as Salifert does only NH3. I will do a nitrite and nitrate next to check ammonia conversion.

 

[bluprntguy]

Dr Tim’s says 4 drops per gallon to get to 2ppm. That equals 88 drops or approximately 4.5 ml in your 22 gallon system. You overdosed 3.3 times and your ammonia should have hit about 6.67 ppm at the upper limit (assuming all my math is correct this morning). Then you did a 50% water change that should have brought ammonia down to around 3. All this happened while your live rock/sand was processing ammonia. The LFS test seems reasonable and I’d just pitch your api test and buy a new one.

 

[Bonsai reef]

Dr Tim’s says 4 drops per gallon to get to 2ppm. That equals 88 drops or approximately 4.5 ml in your 22 gallon system. You overdosed 3.3 times and your ammonia should have hit about 6.67 ppm at the upper limit (assuming all my math is correct this morning). Then you did a 50% water change that should have brought ammonia down to around 3. All this happened while your live rock/sand was processing ammonia. The LFS test seems reasonable and I’d just pitch your api test and buy a new one.

Ya, I was too lazy to count 80+ drops, counted till 40 and then visually tried to double the volume and messed up there. I would do the subsequent tests with Salifert.

 

[bluprntguy]

Ya, I was too lazy to count 80+ drops, counted till 40 and then visually tried to double the volume and messed up there. I would do the subsequent tests with Salifert.

I still don’t think you could have overdosed much past 8ppm even with guesstimating. If you did a 50% water change you should be in the 4ppm range at most.

It’s a good time to learn to be more precise!

 

[Bonsai reef]

What I figured out is API checks for both Ammonium(NH4) and Ammonia(NH3). Ammonium can be converted to ammonia in high pH and temperature. Dr. Tim’s is ammonium chloride breaks down into NH4 and Cl ions in water. So its likely that my water has more NH4 than NH3 which shows in the test correctly. Though NH4 is non toxic but I guess it’s important factor to detect as well. Salifert only tests for ammonia and not ammonium. IMO it would be ideal to have both ammonium and ammonia down. Thoughts/ corrections?

 

[bluprntguy]

What I figured out is API checks for both Ammonium(NH4) and Ammonia(NH3). Ammonium can be converted to ammonia in high pH and temperature. Dr. Tim’s is ammonium chloride breaks down into NH4 and Cl ions in water. So its likely that my water has more NH4 than NH3 which shows in the test correctly. Though NH4 is non toxic but I guess it’s important factor to detect as well. Salifert only tests for ammonia and not ammonium. IMO it would be ideal to have both ammonium and ammonia down. Thoughts/ corrections?

Most companies don’t really disclose exactly how their tests work or what the chemical reactions are. You can get quite a bit of conflicting information online (especially from people on webforums). The description for the salifert test on marinedepot’s website says “The Salifert Ammonia Test Kit measures the total amount of ammonia and ammonium quickly and accurately.” It’s been a while since I researched all the ammonia tests, but from what I see the API and salifert tests generally measure the same way.

I’d be more inclined to assume your API test kit is just out of date, got hot somewhere along the supply chain, or somehow got contaminated.

 

[Bonsai reef]

Most companies don’t really disclose exactly how their tests work or what the chemical reactions are. You can get quite a bit of conflicting information online (especially from people on webforums). The description for the salifert test on marinedepot’s website says “The Salifert Ammonia Test Kit measures the total amount of ammonia and ammonium quickly and accurately.” It’s been a while since I researched all the ammonia tests, but from what I see the API and salifert tests generally measure the same way.

I’d be more inclined to assume your API test kit is just out of date, got hot somewhere along the supply chain, or somehow got contaminated.

Possible

 

[ScottR]

I can say with certainty that salifert won’t with Dr Tim’s. I took 2mL sample of tank water and put 2 drops of Dr Tim’s in at a friends house the other day. Tested with salifert and water just turned cloudy with no color. Hence testing for NH3 when it should be NH4.

 

[Bonsai reef]

I can say with certainty that salifert won’t with Dr Tim’s. I took 2mL sample of tank water and put 2 drops of Dr Tim’s in at a friends house the other day. Tested with salifert and water just turned cloudy with no color. Hence testing for NH3 when it should be NH4.

Yes, the Salifert test kit says it’s for NH3.

 

[Bonsai reef]

See the reviews of salifert ammona test kit, it will only read free ammonia and not total. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/salifert-ammonia-aquarium-test-kit.html

 

[Bonsai reef]

Just an update. End of week 3. Total Ammonia is down to 0 / .25 with API now. Nitrite at its peak. Nitrate about 5. It’s just a waiting game.

 

[Reefer_Rob]

Just an update. End of week 3. Total Ammonia is down to 0 / .25 with API now. Nitrite at its peak. Nitrate about 5. It’s just a waiting game.

Any updates? Im cycling now with Dr Tims (day 4) waiting for my ammonia to drop....