Nemo

Several months now, at least 3+ months. yeah, I purchased mine within the past month.

So, to clarify the ammonia test strips test for the Total Ammonia Nitrogen, Ammonia (NH3) plus Ammonium (NH4+)?

I purchased this https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/water-care/products/aquarium-co-op-ammonia-test-strips But I'm unsure if I'm following the instructions correctly or if my strips are defective. The instructions said to dip the strip in and out of the water, with the test pad completely in and completely out of the water for 30 seconds. But how fast are you supposed to dip the strip in and out- multiple dips a second or a dip in and out once every few seconds? I did multiple tests with the strips, varying the frequency of the dips with each test. However, the results of each tests are the same. The color of the test pad never changes color. The color of the test pad straight out of the tube is pale yellow. After using the strip the color remained the same, it didn't change color at all. It didn't even change to the pale yellow/green color indicating 0 ppm. I even used the strip to test my tap water ( which has ammonia at 1 ppm, tested with API test kit) and still, the test strip didn't change color. It remained the initial pale yellow and didn't change color to any hint of green or blue. So, are my test strips defective or am I not using the test strip the correct way?