API freshwater test kit + Seachem prime

[JillianGarcia05]

Hi all, 

I've posted on here a couple of times trying to help my poor female betta after an ammonia spike after my new tank crashed while trying to establish a cycle. Long story short, did some things like change the filter after a month, causing my bb to disappear and never fully established.

Either way the past week I've been doing water changes to keep the ammonia levels done. The first reading was 2ppm and I've kept it at .25ppm every day since last Thursday. 

Daily routine is 25% water change with treated water with prime. 

Please note: this is a fish in-tank situation - only one female betta. 

I was curious since I've seen people comment and would love to verify that the API freshwater master test kit will show a false reading of ammonia when using Seachem prime. Is this true?

I also tested my water and the ammonia is 0ppm and verified my city's water is treated with chlorine.

I know I have to jump start my cycle again and have a bottle of Seachem Sability to help. However, while doing daily water changes, I can't treat the water yet. 

So if it's true that API freshwater master kit + prime = false ammonia readings. Does that mean I can stop with the daily water changes and jump start my BB with the sability product? 

Or do I keep doing the daily water changes until it reaches 0ppm and then start the BB?

Many thanks!

[Tlindsey]

On 11/30/2023 at 2:39 PM, JillianGarcia05 said:

true that API freshwater master kit + prime = false ammonia readings.

From my experience the test vials could possibly stain over time but hard to notice and you could get a false test measurement.  I personally rinse out test vials with distilled water. Deionized water can be used also.

[JillianGarcia05]

On 11/30/2023 at 11:57 AM, Tlindsey said:

From my experience the test vials could possibly stain over time but hard to notice and you could get a false test measurement.  I personally rinse out test vials with distilled water. Deionized water can be used also.

I do rinse them out with warm water and let them air dry. But I'll snag some distilled water from the grocery store and start cleaning them that way. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/30/2023 at 11:39 AM, JillianGarcia05 said:

I was curious since I've seen people comment and would love to verify that the API freshwater master test kit will show a false reading of ammonia when using Seachem prime. Is this true?

From Seachem's Website under Prime FAQ:

Quote

I am using Prime® to control ammonia but my test kit says it is not doing anything, in fact it looks like it added ammonia! What is going on?

A: A Nessler based kit will not read ammonia properly if you are using Prime®... it will look "off scale", sort of a muddy brown (incidentally a Nessler kit will not work with any other products similar to Prime®). A salicylate based kit can be used, but with caution. Under the conditions of a salicylate kit the ammonia-Prime® complex will be broken down eventually giving a false reading of ammonia (same as with other products like Prime®), so the key with a salicylate kit is to take the reading right away. However, the best solution 😉 is to use our MultiTest™ Ammonia kit; it uses a gas exchange sensor system which is not affected by the presence of Prime® or other similar products. It also has the added advantage that it can detect the more dangerous free ammonia and distinguish it from total ammonia (total ammonia is both free ammonia and non-toxic ionized forms of ammonia).

 

On 11/30/2023 at 11:39 AM, JillianGarcia05 said:

So if it's true that API freshwater master kit + prime = false ammonia readings. Does that mean I can stop with the daily water changes and jump start my BB with the sability product? 

Even if you're doing daily water changes, you would complete those and then after you add in the prime + new water, add in your beneficial bacteria (stability)  Then you give it 24 hours to do it's thing and do another water change if need be at that point.  People run into issues when then don't wait the 24 hours after adding bacteria.

In terms of the tank setup, are you satisfied with the filtration?  Are things setup in such a way that you're confident it's robust enough? 

Welcome to the forums @Tlindsey and @JillianGarcia05!

[Tlindsey]

Thanks for the welcome 😄

[JillianGarcia05]

On 11/30/2023 at 12:23 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Even if you're doing daily water changes, you would complete those and then after you add in the prime + new water, add in your beneficial bacteria (stability)  Then you give it 24 hours to do it's thing and do another water change if need be at that point.  People run into issues when then don't wait the 24 hours after adding bacteria.

@nabokovfan87 - I asked in a different post and someone mentioned that since I'm removing water from the tank daily, it's pointless putting in the BB. So I stopped adding it after my water change on Monday. I have been waiting 24 hours (give or take an hour) between testing. But maybe I need to find a better system. I work remotely, so my days vary on free time along with my weekends. 

So would you recommend doing water changes, adding treated water with prime and the bb again? 

I'm new to this whole thing and just trying to get things back on track for my poor betta, Augustine. 

On 11/30/2023 at 12:23 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

In terms of the tank setup, are you satisfied with the filtration?  Are things setup in such a way that you're confident it's robust enough? 

The filtration I have came with the tank system. My plan once things settle down and if my fish survives (she's been very low energy since the spike and eating a little every couple of days) to get a bigger tank (5 gallons) with a different setup with a new filtration and live plants and get that cycled prior to putting her in. 

Also thank you for the welcome!