Have I lost the cycle?

[mmorrison55]

Pods generally dont produce ammonia and API will almost always show zero.
I suggest taking a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and have them test your ammonia and nitrates and compare readings- then you'll know where your levels are at.
Rock if live rock likely fine unless exposed to copper.
Are you using Tap water for top off or mixing of salt?
What bottled bacteria are you using?

No. I have an rodi mixing station set up and make my own water.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Pods generally dont produce ammonia and API will almost always show zero.
I suggest taking a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and have them test your ammonia and nitrates and compare readings- then you'll know where your levels are at.
Rock if live rock likely fine unless exposed to copper.
Are you using Tap water for top off or mixing of salt?
What bottled bacteria are you using?

API is not that bad actually and he also tested with a Hanna. The results for each brand are consistent across both tanks,

I wouldn’t trust an LFS to test anything.

Bottled bac is listed above.

There is no ammonia problem.

 

[mmorrison55]

My main thing that even got me to test ammonia was 0 nitrates. Ive never had zero nitrates or phosphates reading on my Hannah’s before.

1st time it read zero, I assumed I tested with RODI water by mistake, so I ran the test three times!

 

[mmorrison55]

I take that back, what got me to test, was coming home to a dead clownfish and not knowing when it died as I was out of town for 3 days, so it could have died on day 1 or day three. It was partially eaten so I suspect it died shortly after we left.

It had stopped eating the day before, but I had hoped it was temporary as it ate good the week before since I got it.

 

[mmorrison55]

So ive been afraid to add anything else to the tank not knowing if it was toxic.

 

[mmorrison55]

Some notes and negatives re the Hanna hi784 checker.

I re-read the full instructions and some things caught my attention.

1st off this is testing total ammonia NH3/NH4. To get the “toxic” ammonia, you need to do some math to calculate the unionized toxic ammonia

Using this formula, my “toxic” ammonia came out to be .007 nh3.

The api test kits that almost always show zero are probably right as well as they are not nearly as sensitive as this version of the Hanna checker.

API kits goes from 0ppm to 0.25, 0.50, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 8.0. Even at the most minute, a pretty big margin for the reading.

And im guessing most people if they ran their sample through the Hanna, it would likely be under the .25 ppm reading so it would show as zero on api’s chart.

And I don’t know this for certain, but I suspect that when most people are talking about dangerous levels of ammonia, they should be meaning the free ammonia reading but are probably mixing it up with the nh3/nh4 total ammonia reading.


Long story short.. I should probably just stop testing my ammonia as I think many have already said on this forum in other posts.

What lead me down this path was my nitrates reading zero,a be caused a bit of a panick on my part.