ammonia skyrocketed? which one do i believe?

[Lissa1987]

 

[Crabs McJones]

Is this in a quarantine tank? And are you running any medications?

 

[Lissa1987]

yes quaentine. no meds, just prime every other day

 

[Crabs McJones]

I would go off the ammonia alert badge. API ammonia test kits are notorious for false readings. And alert badges are the only known test that can detect ammonia with any medications in the water.

 

[Lissa1987]

Weirdly enough, the tank i am cycling ( i dosed ammonia almost a week ago and stability daily) shows no nitrites or nitrates but still high ammonia...Ive been through almost 2 bottles of stability and still not showing and nitrite/ate

 

[EmdeReef]

If you’re adding prime, your api test kit will give false positives.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Why are you dosing Prime when you are cycling ?

 

[flchamp89]

Emde reef got it right.

 

[piranhaman00]

Prime makes API ammonia positive! And that test always looks positive to me anyway, not reliable.

 

[Crossfire]

Are you using RO/DI water? If you are using tap that has chloramine, the prime will bind to the chlorine part and leave the ammonia in the water.

Like everyone else said, the prime will also throw off your API ammonia test kit.

 

[Lissa1987]

Why are you dosing Prime when you are cycling ?

I am not dosing prime in the tank I am cycling. I am dosing prime in the quarantine tank.

 

[Lissa1987]

Are you using RO/DI water? If you are using tap that has chloramine, the prime will bind to the chlorine part and leave the ammonia in the water.

Like everyone else said, the prime will also throw off your API ammonia test kit.

Yes I am using rodi water

 

[Dom]

Weirdly enough, the tank i am cycling ( i dosed ammonia almost a week ago and stability daily) shows no nitrites or nitrates but still high ammonia...Ive been through almost 2 bottles of stability and still not showing and nitrite/ate

Once your nitrifying bacteria colony grows to a size where is can process the ammonia, the ammonia comes down and the nitrates go up.

 

[Yahtzee170]

I recently used an ammonia alert to monitor a cycle. One quick note is that the ammonia alert is measuring NH3 only, while API is measuring total ammonia.

I think it's possible that both tests were correct. I'm not sure what you're reading the API kit as, but at a pH of 8 and temp of 78, 0.25 ppm total ammonia is <0.02 NH3. Even 0.5 ppm might not change seachem, depending on other parameters.

 

[MnFish1]

I would go off the ammonia alert badge. API ammonia test kits are notorious for false readings. And alert badges are the only known test that can detect ammonia with any medications in the water.

With Prime - the API test will show a positive result.

 

[miamijaaz]

Agree, I find API ammonia test to be junk. Always seemed to show ammonia for me (same yellowish-green color), no matter the tank or its maturity. Made the mistake of buying it on impulse, never again.