Should I get a NH3 test reading if using Ammonium Bicarbonate?

[Ziggy17]

Just as the title states? I’m in the process of curing dry rock and I’m using 3 different bottled bacteria and dosing 1cc of Randy’s DIY ammonium solution, and my nitrates are slowly climbing in small increments, but I can’t get a NH3 reading, even if I test the solution on its own. Using a Salifert test for NH3 and Hanna for NO3. Last NO3 result was 1.7 after 10 days of cycling.

From what I’ve read, Ammonium Bicarbonate is NH4, so my guess is that am unknowingly using the wrong test kit and I need a NH4 Salifert kit?

Cheers.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I can’t see any reason. It’s like asking should you get a test just because I got a new fish.

Just ramp up slowly.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

That said, any ammonia test should be able to detect it.

 

[Ziggy17]

I can’t see any reason. It’s like asking should you get a test just because I got a new fish.

Just ramp up slowly.

Sorry, I don’t understand the reference.

Then the test kit must be bad. Your solution should be showing up on the test.

 

[Ziggy17]

I put 1cc of the ammonium solution in the test vial with 2cc of tank water, and I did not see a change in the colour. That’s what struck me as odd and sparked the question.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'd suggest testing the kit using a level within or near the range of the kit.

Does the solution smell at all of ammonia?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Sorry, I don’t understand the reference.

Then the test kit must be bad. Your solution should be showing up on the test.

The comment was to suggest there's no need to be measuring ammonia.

 

[EnterName]

Just as the title states? I’m in the process of curing dry rock and I’m using 3 different bottled bacteria and dosing 1cc of Randy’s DIY ammonium solution, and my nitrates are slowly climbing in small increments, but I can’t get a NH3 reading, even if I test the solution on its own. Using a Salifert test for NH3 and Hanna for NO3. Last NO3 result was 1.7 after 10 days of cycling.

From what I’ve read, Ammonium Bicarbonate is NH4, so my guess is that am unknowingly using the wrong test kit and I need a NH4 Salifert kit?

Cheers.

Ammonium and Ammonia will always be at an equilibrium in your tank which depends on temperature and pH (there may be more factors but you get the idea).
So dosing ammonium will also increase ammonia and vice versa.

Salifert measures NH3+NH4 so even without the equilibrium reaction happening, it should still pick up the dosed amount. I didn't go through the chemistry of their test kit yet, but there is NaOH in their reagent which buffers pH. So maybe directly adding your ammonium reagent changes the pH too much so the test doesn't work properly anymore. You can try creating a very very dilute solution and check if that changes anything.

http://salifert.com/instructions temp/ammonia profi-test.pdf

 

[Ziggy17]

I'd suggest testing the kit using a level within or near the range of the kit.

Does the solution smell at all of ammonia?

Indeed it does.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Indeed it does.

Then it is likely good for dosing and I would not bother to measure ammonia. In fact, I do dose it and do not measure ammonia.

 

[Ziggy17]

The comment was to suggest there's no need to be measuring ammonia.

I’m measuring ammonia to see when the rocks are seeded so I can start the tank. Rather than cycling a 150g tank, I’m seeded/cycling the new rockscape to skip cycle. This also allows me to get phosphate bound into the rock at the same level that I want to run it at. I’m showing sparse nitrates which is telling me I’m nitrifying, but I’m trying to see how far along i am. Add ammonia, test ammonia, test nitrate.

Is this thought process flawed?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’m not clear on what you are doing as opposed to cycling the rock, but I do agree that if you are trying to cycle, you want to see the 2 ppm that i’d dose.

 

[Ziggy17]

I’m merely cycling the rockscape in 20g of water in a brute. I’ve added phosphate to the point that the rock has a stable .1 reading. So now I’m testing ammonia to see where the cycle is. I’m not getting any ammonia reading on the Salifert. So either the Salifert test is bad, or I the 1cc twice a day of DIY ammonium solution is not enough to register on the Salifert test.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Why not try adding 2 ppm and see if you get a reading right away?

 

[Ziggy17]

Why not try adding 2 ppm and see if you get a reading right away?

Would love to. Not sure I have the calculator to get me 2ppm in 20g with your solution. I’ll search when I get home and have more time.

I did just check and my nitrates jumped from 1.7 to 5.5 overnight. I added extra NH4 solution last night to see.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My recipe is:

To add 0.1 mg/L ammonia to an aquarium, you would need to add 2.3 mL of either stock solution to a 100 L (26 gallon) aquarium. You may need to add this amount multiply times per day to dose enough.

Thus, to get 2 ppm, you’d add twenty times this amount, or 46 mL per 100 L.



https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-ammonia-dosing-for-low-nitrate-systems.987087/

 

[Ziggy17]

My recipe is:

To add 0.1 mg/L ammonia to an aquarium, you would need to add 2.3 mL of either stock solution to a 100 L (26 gallon) aquarium. You may need to add this amount multiply times per day to dose enough.

Thus, to get 2 ppm, you’d add twenty times this amount, or 46 mL per 100 L.



https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-ammonia-dosing-for-low-nitrate-systems.987087/

Thanks for that quick calculation. I wasn’t coming close to that.

Always a pleasure Mr Holmes-Farley

 

[Ziggy17]

My recipe is:

To add 0.1 mg/L ammonia to an aquarium, you would need to add 2.3 mL of either stock solution to a 100 L (26 gallon) aquarium. You may need to add this amount multiply times per day to dose enough.

Thus, to get 2 ppm, you’d add twenty times this amount, or 46 mL per 100 L.



https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-ammonia-dosing-for-low-nitrate-systems.987087/

So I tried this two days in a row. both times, 10 minutes post 45cc dose of the solution, ammonia tested 1.0 which I guess is test kit margin for error.
In order to keep the cycle, Should I continue to dose to keep dosing 1.0, or should I dose to .5 until I’m ready to start the new tank up? Or does it matter? I just don’t want a new cycle to start…

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So I tried this two days in a row. both times, 10 minutes post 45cc dose of the solution, ammonia tested 1.0 which I guess is test kit margin for error.
In order to keep the cycle, Should I continue to dose to keep dosing 1.0, or should I dose to .5 until I’m ready to start the new tank up? Or does it matter? I just don’t want a new cycle to start…

What happened after the dosing? If it declined, it is cycled and will stay that way for a while.

How long before you use it?

 

[Ziggy17]

What happened after the dosing? If it declined, it is cycled and will stay that way for a while.

How long before you use it?

I’m just waiting on a few more pieces of gear, but i could probably moves things over anytime. But it’s our thanksgiving weekend this weekend and have in laws visiting from out of town, so I’m just keeping it in a holding pattern until I have a solid 2 days to put toward it.

And yeah, it’s cycled. The ammonia dropped .5 in 8 hours. Just wondering how much ammonia to feed to keep everything thriving for the next week or so.