Poll on water testing (for ammonia only)

[brandon429]

Is that a bumblebee cat staring at me/ jealous as mine never ever came out during the day he raced the tank at night only / jealous

let the official record reflect anything aquatics related in your home is on top shelf function


the seneye may need to be trimmed we don’t see lots of displays at .001 but at least for context here thats no overread

if you had a way to move that seneye onto another display reef that would be a neat benchmark but I know that’s impractical (then from the other room he produces a 120 reef lol)

 

[Clown2020]

Is that a bumblebee cat staring at me/ jealous as mine never ever came out during the day he raced the tank at night only / jealous

let the official record reflect anything aquatics related in your home is on top shelf function


the seneye may need to be trimmed we don’t see lots of displays at .001 but at least for context here thats no overread

if you had a way to move that seneye onto another display reef that would be a neat benchmark but I know that’s impractical (then from the other room he produces a 120 reef lol)

Striped Raphael Catfish around 20cm long and hand feeds.

hahah i wish only got the one reef. Did put the seneye in my fresh mixed last week saltwater bucket and same result Of 0.001 and again I can set the trim to 0 or minus 5 and still get 0.001 api kit produces same Color

on the freshwater side I tested my other angelfish tank and no difference again.

just Another way of looking at things all of the amonia kits have there pitfallls api just seems to trip up more people then others

You could always get 3 different tests and take the majority result

 

[MnFish1]

Passing api scores there, yellow close enough. youve got a heck of a set of tanks and testers, I’d say the gamut is covered

Yes - was clear yellow. its all about the light - and the angle

 

[Clown2020]

Hmm must be colourblind to an extent cause I was just showing someone mine green zoa that they say is yellow, yet I say it is the same Color green as the test kits

 

[ying yang]

@ying yang hey can you post the portion of instructions that tells reef aquarists to regard only the nh3 converted number

I’m trying to find out what aspect of those directions causes nearly every single poster to react to the total ammonia initial read. From the two snippets posted, I can see how they would not know to do that- maybe it’s found in the step down portion of the conversion chart. Non chemists will not understand the sheer need to consider only the nh3 number, curious how urgent this is relayed in the instructions set

Sorry can't show you it as cant see it nowhere in the booklet or accompanying cards anywhere.
Here screenshots of everything in amnonia section plus of the colour card to get results and empty on back ,rest of pages just in different languages.

Maybe in america it shows on your Ali tests there as I read a poster earlier say even if illiterate it has a diagram but mine has no diagram either so idk.
I even got an old api freshwater test kit out and doesnt say in that either sorry

Bottles don't say it either

 

[ying yang]

Really need your API and brand X ammonia reading pics

Team, I am preparing a comparative writeup on API ammonia test kit comparisons to other test kits out there...you all know how API reads .25 to almost everyone who uses it in a reef tank, and we are discussing on other forums the massive amount of unneeded action being done as a result of that. F...

www.nano-reef.com

Started searching net as sure I seen someone once post the writing on a api test kit explaining how to find out the nh3 after conversion but can't find that but found a thread from you from 2013 and post 14 the guy sounds quite knowledgeable and says roughly 95% is nh4 and 5% is nh3

How true this is I have no clue whatsoever as above my pay grade lol

 

[MnFish1]

Really need your API and brand X ammonia reading pics

Team, I am preparing a comparative writeup on API ammonia test kit comparisons to other test kits out there...you all know how API reads .25 to almost everyone who uses it in a reef tank, and we are discussing on other forums the massive amount of unneeded action being done as a result of that. F...

www.nano-reef.com

Started searching net as sure I seen someone once post the writing on a api test kit explaining how to find out the nh3 after conversion but can't find that but found a thread from you from 2013 and post 14 the guy sounds quite knowledgeable and says roughly 95% is nh4 and 5% is nh3

How true this is I have no clue whatsoever as above my pay grade lol

I already posted the hamza's reef calculator - for calculating free ammonia based on total ammonia, pH, temp and salinity. It gives you the same information as the Seachem alert - Seneye (assuming the value itself is correct)

 

[brandon429]

Among the colors i have sent to me weekly thats as yellow as the sun

I felt let down in my biases it was so yellow

 

[brandon429]

@ying yang truly thank you for that effort I truly appreciate that

pinch zooming and reading now. Api should put in bold letters, sentence one, the pertinent info

a clear or standout description of how marine tanks must be calculated differently from freshwater would serve their legacy well.

MN I know my posts aren’t votes. But I’m keeping em on api topic as much as possible and hopefully they count as bumps so owners can vote.

 

[ying yang]

@ying yang truly thank you for that effort I truly appreciate that

pinch zooming and reading now. Api should put in bold letters, sentence one, the pertinent info

a clear or standout description of how marine tanks must be calculated differently from freshwater would serve their legacy well.

MN I know my posts aren’t votes. But I’m keeping em on api topic as much as possible and hopefully they count as bumps so owners can vote.

Welcome ,anything to help ^_^

 

[Lyss]

I didn’t read all the posts, but did someone also mention it detects combined ammonia and ammonium? That shouldn’t matter much for a reef b/c of the higher ph but it does for freshwater.

I kept getting .25 on my freshwater tank w/API at one point after cycling but before I felt relaxed enough to stop testing ammonia, and I thought this is nuts it’s probably like .03 or something and you just can’t see that w/API. So I tested w/the hanna ammonia checker and yep that’s what it was — something like .02 or .03.

I keep the hanna checker for my FW tank so I can get a more accurate reading in case of an emergency.

 

[polyppal]

I don't know why anybody would bother with this API junk test.

I think they are still prevalent because it’s $20, can pick it up at petco along with a $20 aqueon tank (and some disease-infested fish)…

Probably 50%+ of people getting into this hobby do it impulsively or with little research and just ask the guy at the store what they should get

 

[Lyss]

I think they are still prevalent because it’s $20, can pick it up at petco along with a $20 aqueon tank (and some disease-infested fish)…

Probably 50%+ of people getting into this hobby do it impulsively or with little research and just ask the guy at the store what they should get

Honestly I think that type of person doesn’t know they need to test the water and doesn’t have test kits. I also think they probably have a freshwater tank.

API tests are prevalent b/they’re relatively fast, easy to use, and accurate enough for cycling. And if you run a freshwater tank you don’t need much else. I would hope for a reef tank most serious ppl upgrade to different kits when starting to test alk/cal/mag.

 

[Clown2020]

Honestly I think that type of person doesn’t know they need to test the water and doesn’t have test kits. I also think they probably have a freshwater tank.

API tests are prevalent b/they’re relatively fast, easy to use, and accurate enough for cycling. And if you run a freshwater tank you don’t need much else. I would hope for a reef tank most serious ppl upgrade to different kits when starting to test alk/cal/mag.

When I first started I got the api saltwater master kit because coming from freshwater almost everyone uses api master kits and seeing tv shows like tanked where they were using api strips I thought api master would be perfect

soon realised it was difficult to get results at the level of accuracy I felt was required, However it got me cycled.

However after reading through this thread I don’t think it’s so much an issue of accuracy or lack of but more detail a in how the kit works and b the results. for example anything up to 0.005 on seneye I would not take any action however if the api kit detects amonia the minimum result is going to be 0.25ppm even if only 0.001 is present Is the result inaccurate no if you read all of the resources avalible but is the level of detailed information we require readily avalible no, will the results unnecessarily confuse new refers yes.

in reefing we tend to look for much more detailed numbers, for example nitrates I want to know down to 1ppm where I am at.

in freshwater I just want to know I’m around 20ppm, if it’s 10pm either side I’m not bothered

and not that I have any experience in running a FOWLR tank but if i was I would probably settle for api unless I was keeping something delicate. But in saying that if I did not know what I now know there would stil be some initial confusion

in my mind we have determined in this thread that the api test is indeed accurate. But difficult and confusing to correctly perform and interpret results correctly. However I think most will agree that api is not a great choice for Reefing

 

[MnFish1]

Really need your API and brand X ammonia reading pics

Team, I am preparing a comparative writeup on API ammonia test kit comparisons to other test kits out there...you all know how API reads .25 to almost everyone who uses it in a reef tank, and we are discussing on other forums the massive amount of unneeded action being done as a result of that. F...

www.nano-reef.com

Started searching net as sure I seen someone once post the writing on a api test kit explaining how to find out the nh3 after conversion but can't find that but found a thread from you from 2013 and post 14 the guy sounds quite knowledgeable and says roughly 95% is nh4 and 5% is nh3

How true this is I have no clue whatsoever as above my pay grade lol

I posted the link to Hamza's Reef - that allows you to enter the total ammonia, salinity, temperature and pH - and get back NH3. - here it is again: https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/FreeAmmonia.php

 

[MnFish1]

I think they are still prevalent because it’s $20, can pick it up at petco along with a $20 aqueon tank (and some disease-infested fish)…

Probably 50%+ of people getting into this hobby do it impulsively or with little research and just ask the guy at the store what they should get

Note - when I'm going to say below I would not apply to a tank using extreme/automatic dosing, or a Ca Reactor, etc.

Whether this will be popular or not - IDK - but IMHO - API tests are just fine for Nitrate, Ca, Alkalinity, and PO4. I tend to test Alkalinity every 1-2 weeks, with Ca, and the rest every month.

I do not tend to test for ammonia at all - but as I said earlier - I'm doing experiments requiring up to 6-8 tests/day. API has to be done correctly which is a problem for some. I say this because I think we all tend to pretend that if the vial says '8.4' that thats the 'true' amount - when it reality its a range (pick your chemical). If Your calcium is 425 one day and 440 the next - does it matter?

I have read many times posts such as this - what should I do - my Mg dropped from 1250 to 1200. Or - my alkalinity changed from 8.6 to 9.

I just have not seen these problems - with variations in tests - unless there is another problem in the tank - at which point, testing makes sense to diagnosis - as well as get the tank back to where you want it (though also IMHO - many times it does so by itself over time.

 

[nereefpat]

most of your posts to me are insincere lead up questions

No, I'm sincerely wondering if you have used the API ammonia kit. If not, I'm putting you in the category of someone who trashes the API kit but hasn't actually used it.

stemming from 2019 beefs I’m not sure the chain of quality is about to be broken.

I don't know what you're talking about there. I don't remember having any beef with you. I just like to talk about saltwater fish tanks. Do you have one?

Pat, your sincerity was very hard to predict. I was not thinking for one instant you were going to relay work patterning you’ve seen relevant to the matter.

You mean like my first post of the thread where I've actually used this kit?

This seems pretty relevant: "I can test freshly made saltwater, and it reads zero. I can test my cycled tanks, and it reads zero. I can calculate how many mLs it will take to cycle my quarantine tank, and the reading will be close after I add the ammonia. People who say this kit doesn't work either haven't used it, don't know what they are talking about, or both."

 

[brandon429]

Bump, not to converse with Pat but because we're working another api miread in the chemistry forum currently. Its not a seneye misread though. bump for more votes from api owners.

we have already deduced its not a true ammonia spike the frag tank owner endured, by all means hop in, run some diagnostics, and let's see that stated api positive be proven right among a thousand seneye posts that show reefs do not lose control over free ammonia as they run normally day by day.

 

[brandon429]

Ammonia spike

So I've had a tank that's had a massive ammonia spike and killed 3 fish. Its a frag tank that I've had running for about 6 months. At first I had a scooter blenny I'm the tank and a couple cleanup crew it's only about 10g so didn't keep much in it. The lid I had on the tank got broke one day...

www.reef2reef.com

theres the thread. we dont get to see reading details, we just get to see the five millionth logged reaction to an api kit that involves second guessing filter bacteria, which never pans out. skeptics, flood the post with doubt its ok/needs some balance against those who never assume a biofilter has faltered in normal daily running conditions where skip quarantine occurred.

 

[brandon429]

MN we should add application of Prime water conditioner as a known adulterant/misread causative.

*the fun part is discerning what made the original reading spike, before the Prime. Skeptics will never believe the API at this phase/ since seneye doesnt show such huge spikes requiring intervention Im the recurring skeptic/ and proponents of API accuracy will state something legit caused the initial spike.

so the fun mystery continues but these challenge systems sure do meet a lot of predictable factors in each case, top to bottom nearly.


**as we evolve the thread initial fish kill may have began the spike, so perhaps not a misread. well, we got a bump off page three at least.