Dakotascott71 Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 Semi new here but I have two aquariums going. A 55 and a 10 both finished cycling mid December. 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and 30 nitrate. That is until about 2 weeks ago. No symptoms from fish whatsoever(guppies, hillstream loach, panda Cory's, ottos, danios) my ammonia readings have been so high it turns the vial blue. Ph is 8.0. Could my test kit have gone bad? My tap tests 0 ammonia so I don't feel like that's the case. Prime hasn't been introduced in a few days to control the test as much as possible. I tried 4ml of tap and 1 ml of tank water and it still turned blue. And this is from both tanks! Neither tank shows any symptoms no rotting plant material. Any tips or answer by chance? TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwack Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 Having the ammonia kit turn blue is... Strange. I've seen ludicrously high levels of ammonia result in deep green while fooling with NHCL, but never anything close to blue. In your case, I'd probably pick up another ammonia kit and see what results it spits out. With no symptoms from your fish at 8+ ppm ammonia, I'd bank on something being up with your kit OR method. To be clear, you're using the API liquid test kit, yeah? Not somehow mixing up the nitrite bottle with one of the ammonia bottles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GardenStateGoldfish Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 what test are you using? Seachem Ammonia Alert? API liquid test kit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakotascott71 Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 Api liquid test kit. The "master" kit. Never had a problem before. I never even usually test ammonia but once a month just to make sure everything is fine. I watch for symptoms from fish all the time. They're all fine. I really thought if it was 8ppm my hillstream loach would be the first to let me know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakotascott71 Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 Also my method I use a syringe and withdraw 5ml out of the tank and put it into the test tube. Add 8 drops of bottle 1 then 8 drops of bottle 2 and shake it for a few seconds. I give each bottle a shake before use as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipper Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 One time my ammonia test turned blue. Turned out the cap I put on the tube had residual from a pH test. Washed everything super well and the next ammonia test was a lovely yellow. Not suggesting this is happening to you, but it reminded me of my own confuzzlement 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwack Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 3 hours ago, skipper said: One time my ammonia test turned blue. Turned out the cap I put on the tube had residual from a pH test. Washed everything super well and the next ammonia test was a lovely yellow. Not suggesting this is happening to you, but it reminded me of my own confuzzlement 🙂 Something like this makes the most sense. Some kind of contaminant in the tubes/caps? I just mixed up two tubes of ludicrously concentrated ammonia water (1/32 tbs in 5mL. This amount brought my 20 gallon up to 2ppm.) Trying the ammonia test was super underwhelming. It... doesn't react at all. The water gets a bit cloudy/yellowed but I was expecting a deep green. I'm guessing the concentration is just too high for the kit to provide any result. I even tested some tank water with 0 ammonia just to be sure my reagents were still good. Think you could post a picture of the result? I'm really curious how this could come about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakotascott71 Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakotascott71 Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 Nothing in caps or tube leftover these were cleaned in hot water and dried Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 What are your test results on tapwater? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwack Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 (edited) Briefly poking around the internet and other folks have had similar results. Had you been dosing Prime regularly for some reason? Have you tried heavily diluting some tank water in your tap water? Like, 4-5 drops to 4.5mL to see if you can get a more "normal" color? I was inclined to believe there was a problem with the test, but seeing other people report the same color with sky-high ammonia readings makes me lean toward this being an accurate result. Edited March 22, 2021 by Schwack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakotascott71 Posted March 22, 2021 Author Share Posted March 22, 2021 1ml tank water with 4ml tap water gave me same results. Tap water alone gives me 0ppm. I only treat with prime with a single dose when I do a water change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwack Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Yeah, I saw that earlier. That's why I'm suggesting even less tank water:tap water. If ammonia is really that far off the charts, a few drops in a vial of tap should give you a more useful reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakotascott71 Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share Posted March 23, 2021 2 drops tank water. Same result Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElTigre Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 I'd double check the expiration dates for your test kit. Each bottle has its own expiration date printed on them. This still doesn't seem likely based on your tap water testing 0ppm ammonia though. How often do you normally change water and how much? Also how much are you feeding and or fertilizing? I know some fertilizers like seachem flourish have ammonia which is why i stick to easy green. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbit Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 (edited) This is super weird! What color are the drops coming out of your test kit bottles? Just in case somehow they got filled with the wrong thing at the factory 😄 Also out of curiosity, what’s the pH of your tap water and your tank water? Edited March 23, 2021 by Hobbit Added a question Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schwack Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 I'm stumped. If it were me, I'd go grab another test kit to test against. If your ammonia was really that far through the roof, you think you'd start seeing signs in your fish at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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