Ammonia Pegged at 8.0 After 50% Water Change, Nitrate 10ppm, What's is happening!

[bstone026]

*hey can you do us one favor pls: post the reading now from the ammonia kit so we can see the actual vial + indicator card in clear light. we need this to track the impacts of non digital testing on cycle challenges / need the pics in pattern to show the readings that cause these concerns

you want me to take a quick test and hold it up to the card ok. give me a minute

 

[bstone026]

you want me to take a quick test and hold it up to the card ok. give me a minute

Here you are a few pics.

 

[razorskiss]

Do you use tap or rodi water? Does your municipality uses chloramines? Chloramine getting through rodi doesn't explain the massive reading though, since it would be at most 2 ppm.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Do you dose any copper? It will show up as ammonia on that test.

 

[Garf]

Here you are a few pics.

Have you had a cat or dog go missing lately, lol

 

[bstone026]

Do you dose any copper? It will show up as ammonia on that test.

I dose with trace elements which contain a little copper

 

[Reefer Matt]

I dose with trace elements which contain a little copper

Ok. I suggest ruling out high ammonia by getting the seachem ammonia alert. It is not affected by copper additives.

 

[brandon429]

Bstone I do want to congratulate you though because that's one. concerning. test.

lol dang that's the second darkest api reading I've ever seen in my lifetime, not a joke. But that in no way matches the condition of your tank, the delicate animals

I'm going back to re read if ammonia binders were added/we have seen those mess with non digital test kit readings before. even if we don't find the cause of the scary test: it's still a misread and that tank is fine and going to be fine and if you never test for ammonia again in that tank, you'll be better off.

I'm leaving the thread though, once it gets to page 5 of people telling you to take corrective measure I'll develop a hernia or something. there's literally nothing wrong with your reef, if you stop ammonia concerns, stop testing, you'll save headaches.

anything perceived as slightly noncompliant in your system is about to be pegged back to ammonia, and by extension a broken cycle. A broken cycle in a tank of these factors above is not possible, ever, at all.

 

[bstone026]

Do you use tap or rodi water? Does your municipality uses chloramines? Chloramine getting through rodi doesn't explain the massive reading though, since it would be at most 2 ppm.

I use rodi water only, I think I will just keep a very close I on them. What throughs me off if for say the ammonia test is inaccurate why won't my fish eat? it's been 2 days

 

[bstone026]

Ok. I suggest ruling out high ammonia by getting the seachem ammonia alert. It is not affected by copper additives.

oh I think that will be something I will be buying very soon, I use a similar device to keep an eye on my salinity it's called fluval sea hydrometer in tank and very useful for me

 

[Reefer Matt]

I used cupramine which is a form of copper in my fowlr tank and had your same issue. This is from the Seachem website:

 

[bstone026]

I used cupramine which is a form of copper in my fowlr tank and had your same issue. This is from the Seachem website:

Thank you for that bit of information, yeah if my ammonia were really 8.0 I think my fish would be dead by now

 

[Reefer Matt]

Thank you for that bit of information, yeah if my ammonia were really 8.0 I think my fish would be dead by now

Sorry I didn't connect the dots sooner. Most of us assume every tank is a reef tank sometimes, and copper certainly wouldn't be dosed in one. I hope this will resolve your issue. As for the fish, maybe a copper test kit will lend more insight.

 

[razorskiss]

oh I think that will be something I will be buying very soon, I use a similar device to keep an eye on my salinity it's called fluval sea hydrometer in tank and very useful for me

I'd also pick up one of these kits:

Seachem - MultiTest: Ammonia

www.seachem.com

They're not too expensive and can discriminate between free and total ammonia. For critical tests I think it's often worth having an inexpensive 2nd opinion kit available for those odd situations. Given that fish aren't eating something is clearly wrong so having more confidence in what exactly might be wrong is totally worth it.

 

[brandon429]

I would like these two threads linked.

the darkest API test I've ever seen, and the second darkest

check this out. carbon black color as the ammonia reading lol

Cycling new reef tank question

Sup guys I am cycling my reef tank with algeabarns cycle kit... I added it yesterday.. And I tested ammonia about 12 hours after starting cycle... ammonia was over 8.0 ppm... I just tested today it reads zero ammonia nitrites and nitrates.... Is it possible for tank to cycle that fast?? I also...

www.reef2reef.com

that above is the darkest api reading I've ever seen.

*notice the shocking tank pic status between the two tanks. I mean you guys' tanks look really really similar. it's fascinating to point out times in pattern where test kits for ammonia simply do not align with tank pics, and we can find no source for ammonia constantly input at all. something indeed fouled both these tests.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Here you are a few pics.

I suggest taking a water sample to a trusted LFS that does NOT use Api test kits and see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours. I suspect false readings want to assure theyre not even higher than your tests show.
I find the ammonia badge worse for results as with test strips they too are for freshwater use also.
I will never use a $24 master kit or a $7 badge to sustain hundreds if not thousands in my case of livestock.
Also if you tested right after water change, you may have gotten false readings. I allow tank to settle 8-12 hours Before testing
Agreeing with Brandon, ive been doing this 38 years and this may be the highest ammonia Ive seen

 

[bstone026]

I suggest taking a water sample to a trusted LFS that does NOT use Api test kits and see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours. I suspect false readings want to assure theyre not even higher than your tests show.
I find the ammonia badge worse for results as with test strips they too are for freshwater use also.
I will never use a $24 master kit or a $7 badge to sustain hundreds if not thousands in my case of livestock.
Also if you tested right after water change, you may have gotten false readings. I allow tank to settle 8-12 hours Before testing
Agreeing with Brandon, ive been doing this 38 years and this may be the highest ammonia Ive seen

Yes I bought the Api badge It says marine and freshwater, it's the ph badge thats just freshwater. But anyway like another user said it can detect I guess different types of Ammonia? It says it detects free ammonia as well. Anyway I just checked it and it's pegged to it's highest setting. I know one thing once this is resolved I am buying a better test kit than api ugh. Here's why I think the ammonia is high. My fish have not ate in 3 days maybe a damsel or 2 took a nibble but not my Angels or gobies. Plus My fish are how do I put it, no longer active during the day and stay mostly hidden and lethargic when they do come out. Geez I just want to know my ammonia reading. I've got a backup or 6month old 55 gallon I was going to use as a reef tank, the specs on it are perfect, it has 2 false clowns in it now. I am highly considering moving my fish to that tank to perserve their lifes because something is definitely wrong here

 

[bstone026]

Some Of the plants are maybe a month old, I do wonder in the back of my mind if they could be a factor for this ammonia rise. Like dead foliage under the sand?

 

[bstone026]

Okay I am now 100% sure it was an ammonia spike, since my amazon order for salt is Thursday. I gave something a try to see if it would lower my ammonia levels. Okay I have a newer 55G tank right next to my display tank. The newer was just about done cycling, I checked the ammonia on it 0ppm perfect for my idea. So I took about 70% of the water out of both tanks and switched the water between them. And to my surprise the Ammonia on the main tank dropped from 8.0+ppm down to a little over 2.0ppm thus confirming this is an ammonia problem. And my fish are eating again and and are no longer lethargic looking. But dang after all these water changes it still sitting around 2.0ppm. I mean could it be the macroalgae maybe? For instance when I rooted them down lots of leaves got buried, which yo know will decompose. I love love my algae plants, and whatever keeps causing this spike I need to figure it out. I even in desperation removed about 3 or 4 gallons of saltwater and replaced it with my RO water which brought my salinity from 1.024 down to 1.022, I may add another gallon or to to bring the salinity temporally down to 1.021 o1.020. See fresh RO water does a good job bringing the ammonia down, At least till my salt arrives

 

[brandon429]

and every day your fish swim, act normally, water stays clear, in panic mode that never fulfills


not an ammonia spike, have fun w old cycling science it'll make you lose sleep lol. My thread shows that symptomless sustained ammonia spikes are misreads, and that it's only a test kit that causes the panic, and the tank looks, runs normal any # of days we want to track.


is that not a 100% accurate representation of this entire thread

look at all those fish, not swimming in ammonia-uncontrolled water. you have a test adulerant situation. You'll never believe anything but your cycle is broken; this is exactly what we collect in the false stall cycle threads.