Mapper
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Posts posted by Mapper
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On 1/4/2021 at 9:02 PM, lefty o said:
just a random thought, you said you have new media, and new sponge etc. it is possible you killed off the good bacteria in the tank, and it is now trying to cycle again.
Well it was giving us the high ammonia readings before we put in the new media and sponges as well.
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So we got the test kit and we measured the free ammonia, which was at zero, but total ammonia was as we had been reading it and off the charts. So are things okay? Should we hold off putting any Prime or Stability in the tank for a week or so to see if things change?
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14 minutes ago, Coronal Mass Ejection Carl said:
In theory, yes.
But I mean the level can't be that bad if the fish are doing ok??
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3 minutes ago, Coronal Mass Ejection Carl said:
The API ammonia test can't tell the difference between ammonia, ammonium, and ammonia supposedly bound to Prime. It won't cause it to read ammonia that doesn't exist in some form though.
Ammo Lock is an amine and the salicylate ammonia method sometimes reads those as ammonia. It will read ammonia that isn't there.
If Ammo Lock is the problem and it's only been a week you might need to do a few more to clear it out.
Well like I said we're getting this test kit tomorrow that is supposed to read the ammonia without any interference of other substances.
http://www.seachem.com/img/favicon.ico Seachem - MultiTest: Ammonia
WWW.SEACHEM.COMWill this give us a more accurate reading?
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1 minute ago, Coronal Mass Ejection Carl said:
How many/big water changes have you done since using Ammo Lock? It can cause off the chart false positive ammonia readings and might take a few water changes to remove before that effect is gone.
We've done 1/2 water changes every weekend for the past month and have gotten the high readings every time before and after.
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But I've read that the Prime and Ammo Lock can create false positives too. We ordered the SeaChem Ammonia Multi-test kit that is supposed to be able to measure the ammonia but not take into account the Prime.
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4 minutes ago, Daniel said:
That seems like a useful clue. Either your water change water has the same amount of ammonia as your 55 gallon aquarium or the results of your ammonia test are inaccurate. It doesn't seem likely your water change water has 8 pmm ammonia. Have you tested your water change water?
I've done a test on the water from our tap and it's 0 ammonia. And like I said, I tested the ammonia in our 20 gallon tank and it's at 0 as well.
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2 minutes ago, Coronal Mass Ejection Carl said:
Did you use Ammo Lock? What's the pH?
We used Ammo Lock up until a week or so ago when I did research and it said using SeaChem Prime and Stability were better, but no change using those. The pH has been low at 6 but I put in some baking soda to bring it up to about 7. Then read that if ammonia is high it's best to have the pH be lower so I've just left it where it's at.
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No it doesn't change it at all. It's still just as high at 8ppm.
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We did have one Dojo loach die about a week ago, but it had been acting funny for a few days prior and not eating. We took a comet out 2 days ago due to a fungal infection and have her healing in another tank on her own. The other fish seem fine though and are eating normally and not darting about the tank or going to the top for oxygen.
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We have a 55 gallon tank that we've had set up for about 6 months now. We have 6 fish in it and all was good up until about a month ago when every time we'd take ammonia readings they were off the chart. We used to get slight ammonia readings but a 1/2 water change on a weekly basis would fix it. We have new media and sponges and everything in the filter and do 1/2 water changes, but nothing makes the ammonia go down. We put Prime and Stability in to change the toxic ammonia to non-toxic, but there's never any change in the reading. It is the highest that the chart reads at 8ppm. If this were true, the fish would be dead in a matter of hours. I've thought maybe it was giving a false reading, but when I measure the ammonia in our 20 gallon tank it's at 0.
What are we doing wrong and why did this all of a sudden start up after months of it being fine?
Help! Aquarium always has extremely high ammonia!
in General Discussion
Posted
So should we not put anything in the tank for a week and see if the readings change?