Fishless cycling a tank with mature media. I did an ammonia test, and had to go and answer the phone before I could read the result. When I came back, the ammonia test had gone very cloudy, with sort of orange bits floating in a pale yellow liquid. It's the Nutrafin ammonia test, where you add 6 drops to the water in the test tube (I think there is more than one variation in different countries - this is the UK).
Is this normal? In a way, it didn't matter as it showed me there was still ammonia in the tank, and the instructions do say to read the test immediately, but just wondering if this is what it's supposed to do?
I've never had an ammonia reading before, as my first tank cycled with mature media and fish and has never shown any ammonia, so I don't know what the ammonia test normally does. I tested again this evening, and got a clear reading, but when I left the test tube to stand for a few minutes, it separated out again, with orange bits floating in almost clear liquid.
Is this normal? In a way, it didn't matter as it showed me there was still ammonia in the tank, and the instructions do say to read the test immediately, but just wondering if this is what it's supposed to do?
I've never had an ammonia reading before, as my first tank cycled with mature media and fish and has never shown any ammonia, so I don't know what the ammonia test normally does. I tested again this evening, and got a clear reading, but when I left the test tube to stand for a few minutes, it separated out again, with orange bits floating in almost clear liquid.
