Why Cant I Shift This Ammonia

BigbruiserAl

I ain't gettin on no plane fool
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I have 3 tanks all cycled and for the life of me cant reduce the ammonia lower then 0.25ppm. The only time i saw yellow 0ppm using the API kit was during the fishless cycle.

It doesnt take a genius to work out its the tap water, but why after 3-4 days does it not ruduce to 0ppm

tank one: heavy overstock of apple snails but not over 0.25ppm
tank two: cheery shrimp (20) 0.25ppm
tank three: grow out for apples

Even a dose prime does nothing any ideas bad test kit?
 
I have a similar problem with my tank. I use prime with my tap water. I add some bacterial supplement whenever I add a new fish or do a water change to boost the bacteria. My API kit never shows yellow for ammonia. I do have one of those cling on ammonia testers inside my tank and its solidly a yellow color which represents 0.02 or less (although it is supposedly less accurate than API). And I know that tester is functioning because last week, I did a water change with only dechlorinater and not prime. The yellow changed to green quickly on the in-tank reading because my tap water has ammonia in it.

My fish act happy and dont show any sign of stress or disease from ammonia. Maybe our test kits are faulty? Not sure how common a faulty test kit might be. If you find any answers or solutions, please let me know.
 
I have a similar problem with my tank. I use prime with my tap water. I add some bacterial supplement whenever I add a new fish or do a water change to boost the bacteria. My API kit never shows yellow for ammonia. I do have one of those cling on ammonia testers inside my tank and its solidly a yellow color which represents 0.02 or less (although it is supposedly less accurate than API). And I know that tester is functioning because last week, I did a water change with only dechlorinater and not prime. The yellow changed to green quickly on the in-tank reading because my tap water has ammonia in it.

My fish act happy and dont show any sign of stress or disease from ammonia. Maybe our test kits are faulty? Not sure how common a faulty test kit might be. If you find any answers or solutions, please let me know.

Of topic sorry - Where did you get the cling on ammonia tester from, Googled and cant find anything like that? Thanks.
 
Bromley, I might have used the wrong word when I said "cling". It is not a static cling, but it hangs on by suction cup. It is made by Seachem. Here is the link to the exact one that I bought at a local Petsmart. Seachem makes Prime, so I think most people trust that brand. (I'm still new to the fish world, so I have no experience to go by)

Seachem Ammonia Alert

Edit: Found a review about it on the combopack on the website. Not sure how accurate this info is..

"I have the ammonia alert tester, and so far I've been very impressed with how well it works. HOWEVER, I've seen people give it a bad reputation due to the fact that they don't understand what it does.

As it states right on the package, the reader measures the amount of FREE ammonia in the water, not TOTAL ammonia. Free ammonia the kind that is toxic to fish, as opposed to ionic ammonia. Ionic ammonia is a non-toxic form of ammonia, and together the two make up total ammonia.

Furthermore, the ammonia reader is NOT designed to be a stand-alone test of ammonia levels, but rather a supplementary reader. In other words, you DO need to continue test your water on a regular basis for total ammonia in addition to anything else.

However, that isn't to say that the reader is useless. In fact, I've found that it makes a great first-warning system should an ammonia spike occur. In addition, as it also states on the package, a new reader may take a few days before it starts working correctly, although mine seemed to work right out of the package. I've also been very careful not to touch the sensor dot, so not to influence it with any chemicals from my hands.

All in all, it does its job well, and should be viewed as a first line of defense in the case of a spike in free ammonia, rather than a fix-all measure of total ammonia, as that's not what it tests for. Furthermore, I will probably be getting the pH reader as well once I get my new tank, and I've already recommended the ammonia reader to my roommate."
 
Cheers mate, sounds like a handy little tool :good:

£7 delivered, might invest once things get established in my tank
 
Thanks matt jusy got one fle bay, very handy, should save on using API kit all the time as you will have idea and safe zone nice!


Supprised that a few of us has the smae ammonia problem but no solutions :(
 

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