Confused over ammonia test

[cyn5351]

Hello I've got a fairly new bio cube 32 tank that has gone a little bit crazy.
I went out of town and my housesitter let algae grow all over my tank so I got that all cleaned up & did a 50% water change. I've been watching it very closely the ammonia continues to test very high. I added Prime and now getting ready to do another water change. By chance, tested the water that I just made using reef crystals and low& behold the ammonia is just as high in that brand new water as it is in the tank.
Using API, so I'm not sure exactly how I should proceed. Should I go ahead and do the change?

Thanks in advance.

 

[LesPoissons]

api’s often read at 25 ammonia when there is none. They can be odd tests. I would take a sample to your Lfs bc you shouldn’t have ammonia in freshly made water so I’d guess your test is the issue. Have the store test (hopefully they don’t use api) and then pending results, get a different test kit.

 

[Thespammailaccount]

Your city might treat the water with chloramines which will show up as ammonia in the water. Do you make your own water with a rodi use tap or buy from a LFS?

 

[cyn5351]

Ive been buying until today. I bought reef crystals and water treatment. Just for fun I thought I would test the new water and it has same reading as current. So, I'm undecided on whether I should do the water change
. Im thinking maybe not. But I'm new so have no idea what to do.

 

[Thespammailaccount]

Ive been buying until today. I bought reef crystals and water treatment. Just for fun I thought I would test the new water and it has same reading as current. So, I'm undecided on whether I should do the water change
. Im thinking maybe not. But I'm new so have no idea what to do.

Did you make the saltwater with a RODI or tap water? If the water came from a RODI I would say the filters are old. If using water from the sink I would say it is chloramines. If the ammonia from the tank is reading the same as the new saltwater a water change won’t do much. If you have some prime you can dose the tank while the bacteria works to break down the ammonia

 

[Thespammailaccount]

You said your ammonia is testing high what is your ammonia reading?

 

[LesPoissons]

also you can post a picture of your test results for interpretation.

 

[Thespammailaccount]

Hopefully you are just using API and reading the 0.25 which is fine and means nothing. Worse case you live in a city that treats the water with chloramines. Where I live the average chloramine is around 2ppm

 

[Thespammailaccount]

This is the TDS and ammonia reading from the tap

 

[Thespammailaccount]

My RODI seven stage with triple di and pre chloramine filter I just finally stopped using since the filters were to expensive to constantly keep changing

 

[Thespammailaccount]

And the cheapest and purest solution I have found distilled water

 

[Cell]

Prime does not eliminate ammonia, it binds it and renders it non-hazardous to your reef, but tests will still pick it up. API Ammonia test is also well known for false positives. Either way, you dosed Prime so you are safe.