Confusion about ammonia interpretations

[Shilpan Patel]

Hey guys! As you may know I’m currently quarantining only a sailfin tang in a 40 gallon tank with a canister filter, ceramic noodles and SeaChem matrix. Currently treating with Cupramine. My tank was cycled fully before starting.

My ammonia alert went green 1 week after cupramine so I did a 40% WC. It stayed green so I did another WC. Still green...
So I bought another alert which also changed to green. So I did another water change (all 40% btw...). This time I cleaned the canister filter which was filthy and probably responsible for the ammonia spike. I’ve started adding SeaChem stability now cause I don’t wanna take any risks.

Now it had been 8hrs post WC and the alert was still green. The fish is fine. So I went a bought a seachem multi test ammonia kit. The SeaChem kit says Free ammonia 0, total ammonia 0.15. A repeat test 6 hrs later also showed free ammonia 0, and total ammonia 0.05.

But the SeaChem alerts which supposedly show free ammonia are both still green, and they’re brand new.

What should I trust now? The multi-test? Or the alerts?

Thank you for your help (and yes I’ve remembered to test and add cupramine as I go and it’s staying at 0.45-0.51) (and yes when I cleaned the canister filter I made sure the media remained submerged in tank water so I didn’t kill off too many bacteria ).

 

[Brew12]

Hey guys! As you may know I’m currently quarantining only a sailfin tang in a 40 gallon tank with a canister filter, ceramic noodles and SeaChem matrix. Currently treating with Cupramine. My tank was cycled fully before starting.

My ammonia alert went green 1 week after cupramine so I did a 40% WC. It stayed green so I did another WC. Still green...
So I bought another alert which also changed to green. So I did another water change (all 40% btw...). This time I cleaned the canister filter which was filthy and probably responsible for the ammonia spike. I’ve started adding SeaChem stability now cause I don’t wanna take any risks.

Now it had been 8hrs post WC and the alert was still green. The fish is fine. So I went a bought a seachem multi test ammonia kit. The SeaChem kit says Free ammonia 0, total ammonia 0.15. A repeat test 6 hrs later also showed free ammonia 0, and total ammonia 0.05.

But the SeaChem alerts which supposedly show free ammonia are both still green, and they’re brand new.

What should I trust now? The multi-test? Or the alerts?

Thank you for your help (and yes I’ve remembered to test and add cupramine as I go and it’s staying at 0.45-0.51) (and yes when I cleaned the canister filter I made sure the media remained submerged in tank water so I didn’t kill off too many bacteria ).

Are you shining a light into the back of the alert badge to read it?

 

[Shilpan Patel]

Hello thank you for your reply
No I wasn’t...is this the correct way to read this?

I just tried it now, when shining a light from behind it doesn’t appear as green anymore. It appears greenish yellow. Not exactly the yellow safe colour which it was for the first 2-3 days when it was in the tank, but not exactly the green alert colour either.

 

[Brew12]

Hello thank you for your reply
No I wasn’t...is this the correct way to read this?

I just tried it now, when shining a light from behind it doesn’t appear as green anymore. It appears greenish yellow. Not exactly the yellow safe colour which it was for the first 2-3 days when it was in the tank, but not exactly the green alert colour either.

Yes, lighting it from behind is the most accurate way to read them.

 

[Jesterrace]

I'd go with the numbers on the test kit over the badge. If the fish is active and eating and not showing signs of stress I would say you have your answer.

 

[Shilpan Patel]

Thank you very kindly for your help guys.
I can confirm it’s been 3-4 days now and the fish is fine. Actually it’s stopped the odd flashing it used to do and eats way more now. So I’m wondering if this means it had a parasite I couldn’t see...?

And ok trust the test kit I agree. I’m gonna keep dosing this stability though just in case