Frustrated with test kits which do I believe

[Rscott]

So I am frustrated with the test kits I have been using a Salifert for my cycling

Results seemed as expected

Today I decided to take some water to the local fish store for testing to compare results and because I was considering purchasing my first round of hermit crabs

My salifert kits have been showing basically zero ammonia and zero nitrite

Today the fish store a test my water with a flu Val kit and comes up with something very different that is cause for me to do an emergency water change

The fluval kit shows dang near 1.2 ammonia

I bought my own second kit of the fluval brand to confirm the lfs didn’t mess up the test
I get 1.2

Test with Salifert side by side and get almos zero

what the heck.....
What do I do?

 

[Salty Lemon]

Salifert make decent test kits. I'm not trying to be condescending, but are you certain you are reading the directions correctly on the Salifert brand? I don't have that particular kit for ammonia, but I have Salifert for almost everything else. Sometimes there are a few steps.

I'd do a water change and keep an eye on your fish. Are they gasping for breath or hanging out near the surface of the tank? Are their gills red?

 

[MTBake]

What's in the tank as far as livestock?

It's been a really long time since I've used the Salifert ammonia kit. Are you supposed to look from the side of the vial? I know this makes a large difference in reading the nitrate and ph kits.

 

[Rscott]

Hi all

Yes you are suppose to look from the side
I just took the pic from the top

Here are the directions
Pretty hard to screw this one up.

2ml if water

Half a syringe of regent. Swirl , put other half in swirl a few seconds let sit

Not condescending at its good to confirm with you all

The fluval kit is has 3 reagents 7 drops each
The directions are semi unclear

Only fish are 2 springer damsels
They are both eating and hanging out by there cave as normal
No red Gil’s nothing seems out of place. I don’t get it

I have a bottle of prime for emergencies but don’t want to use it unless it’s a life threatening matter

I did the Red Sea reef mature cycle kit. Tank is on day 14 which is well into adding a few fish according to the kit

I used the Salifert kits to confirm readings with instructions from the Red Sea and thought things were fine by Salifert kits

Also fluval kit says mirrors are off the charts also when Salifert kit says .2

Mayday mayday grrrrrr

 

[ReeferMadness0347]

I found the manual online for the red sea reef starter kit.

https://5w56d28u4co20frgwagf5y18-wp...age-Manual_GB_DE_FR_SP_IT_PT_JP_CH_KR_17A.pdf

And it says fish shouldn’t be added until day 21.

 

[ReeferMadness0347]

I found the manual online for the red sea reef starter kit.

https://5w56d28u4co20frgwagf5y18-wp...age-Manual_GB_DE_FR_SP_IT_PT_JP_CH_KR_17A.pdf

And it says fish shouldn’t be added until day 21.

red sea reef mature pro kit is the manual, I mistyped.

 

[Rscott]

I found the manual online for the red sea reef starter kit.

https://5w56d28u4co20frgwagf5y18-wp...age-Manual_GB_DE_FR_SP_IT_PT_JP_CH_KR_17A.pdf

And it says fish shouldn’t be added until day 21.

Then you found the wrong manual
This is the one my kit came with

 

[Double monti 61]

Do not believe everything you read

 

[Rscott]

And I just looked at your
Link , you have the right manual it says the same as mine

Add fish 1 per 100 liters on day 14

 

[Rscott]

Do not believe everything you read

So don’t believe your post? Lol
Just kidding

I know and I tested everything correct so I went with the schedule

If the tests gave me something different then what the book said I would not of done it

But it was on track until I hadn’t the LFS test my water to verify my tests

I’m
Doing a 30% change at the moment

Trying to not use the prime if I don’t have to

 

[Double monti 61]

I never use test kits

 

[KrisReef]

So don’t believe your post? Lol
Just kidding

I know and I tested everything correct so I went with the schedule

If the tests gave me something different then what the book said I would not of done it

But it was on track until I hadn’t the LFS test my water to verify my tests

I’m
Doing a 30% change at the moment

Trying to not use the prime if I don’t have to

High ammonia will often make tank water look cloudy. Is your tank clear or cloudy?
High ammonia, some people can detect because the water will smell funny, (can I use "stink" on a family forum?)

So the moral to this reply is that one of those test kits appears to be dead wrong, and maybe your eyes and nose can help you decide which test is spurious and which is correct. I don't know from here but if I had to guess from your pictures of the test that the Fluval green is not likely to be correct. (It looks like it might use the same reagents as API test which reportedly has a lot of false positives also.)

And if the fish are ok, don't chase colors with water changes all weekend. In fact, test the water again right after the change and see if the NH3OH level dropped significantly. HTH.

 

[brandon429]

We never require test kits to state if you are cycled. I’m going back to reread for this:

How long has the sand been underwater before you bought it
How long were the rocks underwater

Duration underwater determines cycling not testers, they range. using bottle bac is a cheat to submersion time requirements.

 

[brandon429]

I just read fish are in the tank.

And if they’ve been in longer than twelve hours and are not dead, we are about 90% ready to call you cycled because fish waste will kill the system quick if it’s not cycled

You could have used bottle bac, but mentioned about ready to add hermits which sounds like things have been stewing a while.

Check cycling charts online. Ammonia is always on a progression down, it never goes up or holds slightly above zero after thirty days on any chart

It’s fun to try and trace out ammonia never using testers using pure biology and other description details

If you post a full tank shot w make a cycle call I’m curious to see it. let’s see the fish as they swim and the layout and the water clarity etc

 

[Rscott]

Thanks for the replies

Just did a 30% change and retested
It shows improved but tons of nh3 according to fluval

The fish are acting a bit stressed but it could be caused by me whipping around the house and being all up in the tank

The new test still shows ammonia

I also did a test on fresh salt water which comes
Back clean on both test kits see results below

The fluval kit uses 3 7 drop each reagents

See pics

The Salifert uses one reagent only

How is this possible

 

[Rscott]

Should I be considering prime right now

The tank is cloudy right now but for a ton of other reasons

It’s a long story but I have had a super hard time with my new Red Sea skimmer
Spent all day on the phone with Red Sea about it

They had me doing a water change through the skimmer today because while it was over flowing they didn’t want what it was skimming back
In the tank

When I was doing this stupid ness, I topped
Off with fresh salt water as needed. Well bone head move number 300 today my salt in my vats was down to 31 so I had been adding salt manually little by little today to get the salt back up which of course was making it cloudy

In the process I decided to take a trip to the store and that’s when I found this at the LFS today

Now I finally have my skimmer
Working. The ammonia spike is probably caused by me over feeding with no inverts. There is lots of food on the sand bed hence why I was looking at hermits today

Blaaaaaah

I like
Playing with the tank but today has been a bit much obviously because I’m a noob and impatient but thought I was doing the right direction with the Red Sea kit

 

[Rscott]

Pics

 

[Rscott]

Sorry the lights are super blue from my phone camera
In real life they are not that blue

Plus it’s night time so the controlling is winding them down as they shut off in 45 minutes

 

[Rscott]

I put the lights on manual for a second with them turned up

Now you can see better

 

[Rscott]

Finally got my skimmer fixed after constructing a cheap do it yourself your self stand

I made a nice acrylic one but now maybe my skimmer will help that it’s actually running properly