ammonia in qt tank

[waterthatmakeu]

I set up my qt tank 45 days before I put the fishes inside, all tests checked out before putting the fishes/copper in, but now that I've put in cupramine it is showing a high amount of ammonia. Any ideas on how to resolve this problem? Could it be possible the reading is false? For reference I'm using API testing kit & Cupramine.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Hi, whats the size of the tank? How many fish in the tank?

 

[waterthatmakeu]

Hi, whats the size of the tank? How many fish in the tank?

30 gallon 3 fishes all small juveniles

 

[Dayclone]

Do a small water change?

Or use Seachem Prime it binds with ammonia

 

[waterthatmakeu]

Do a small water change?

Or use Seachem Prime it binds with

would it be fine using Seachem Prime with Cupramine

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Thats strange..... Whats the ammonia level?

 

[waterthatmakeu]

Thats strange..... Whats the ammonia level?

1.0ppm

 

[MnFish1]

Some information here is a bit incomplete IMHO. 1. Cupramine can affect ammonia testing. 2. It remains unclear whether prime 'binds' ammonia (i.e. removes it) - but it can affect testing (i.e. ammonia can remain elevated after using prime). 3. I would tend to use a hanna copper test as compared to API. 4. The way to go is water changes - where by you take out x gallons of water and replace with x gallons of water with the appropriate dose of copper. Hope this helps

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It could definitely be a test error.

The other possibility is that the tank was not cycled. Just so that we can eliminate this possibility, can you say how you cycled the tank? Did you have zero ammonia and some measurable nitrate?

 

[waterthatmakeu]

Some information here is a bit incomplete IMHO. 1. Cupramine can affect ammonia testing. 2. It remains unclear whether prime 'binds' ammonia (i.e. removes it) - but it can affect testing (i.e. ammonia can remain elevated after using prime). 3. I would tend to use a hanna copper test as compared to API. 4. The way to go is water changes - where by you take out x gallons of water and replace with x gallons of water with the appropriate dose of copper. Hope this helps

I'll definitely be doing a water change, just in case, anything else you might suggest? I just want to make sure that I'll be able to fix this one way or another.

 

[waterthatmakeu]

It could definitely be a test error.

The other possibility is that the tank was not cycled. Just so that we can eliminate this possibility, can you say how you cycled the tank? Did you have zero ammonia and some measurable nitrate?

the tank was cycled, algae growth was visible, ammonia was at 0ppm and nitrate was somewhere between 0-5ppm (API does give exact measurements, but the color was matching neither.)

 

[MnFish1]

I'll definitely be doing a water change, just in case, anything else you might suggest? I just want to make sure that I'll be able to fix this one way or another.

Well - there are no guarantees of a 'fix' - I will mention - the toxicity of "ammonia" is directly proportional to the pH - since non-toxic ammonia NH4 at 1 ppm is not good if the pH was 7.8 - its really bad if the pH is 8.3

 

[MnFish1]

the tank was cycled, algae growth was visible, ammonia was at 0ppm and nitrate was somewhere between 0-5ppm (API does give exact measurements, but the color was matching neither.)

Just so everyone is on the same page - is the API test you're talking about the ammonia kit or the copper kit

 

[waterthatmakeu]

Well - there are no guarantees of a 'fix' - I will mention - the toxicity of "ammonia" is directly proportional to the pH - since non-toxic ammonia NH4 at 1 ppm is not good if the pH was 7.8 - its really bad if the pH is 8.3

I'm not quite sure what you mean, are you saying if pH is reading normal than it's really bad if it has an ammonia of 1ppm? my pH level reading was in the normal range, while testing for ammonia as well.

 

[waterthatmakeu]

Just so everyone is on the same page - is the API test you're talking about the ammonia kit or the copper kit

yes! Sorry I didn't clarify on that.

 

[Garf]

I'm not quite sure what you mean, are you saying if pH is reading normal than it's really bad if it has an ammonia of 1ppm? my pH level reading was in the normal range, while testing for ammonia as well.

Ammonia alert badges don't get messed with by the copper, like total ammonia liquid tests do.

 

[sc50964]

Good read. Will help.

Analyzing Hanna Ammonia checker Hi784, chemistry and performance

Hanna's saltwater ammonia checker, Hi784 is out and I wanted to take a look and assess its performance for reef tank water, and see where some interpretation of results might be helpful. This post will include some data on a display tank processing ammonia, and in a later post I'll do a...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[vetteguy53081]

I set up my qt tank 45 days before I put the fishes inside, all tests checked out before putting the fishes/copper in, but now that I've put in cupramine it is showing a high amount of ammonia. Any ideas on how to resolve this problem? Could it be possible the reading is false? For reference I'm using API testing kit & Cupramine.

Monitor the level as you go along with quarantine and use a reliable kit

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

the tank was cycled, algae growth was visible, ammonia was at 0ppm and nitrate was somewhere between 0-5ppm (API does give exact measurements, but the color was matching neither.)

When you say the tank was cycled - were the bacteria challenged with an ammonia source, or was the tank just run empty? Some people use ammonium chloride to cycle a tank, others use some hardy animals.

 

[waterthatmakeu]

Monitor the level as you go along with quarantine and use a kit

do you suggest the badge?