Did ammonia kill my lavendar tang?

[jpcrash1]

I bought a lavendar tang about two weeks ago. I put him in a bear bottom cycled quarantine tank. He seemed to doing fine but was always hiding in pvc . I never saw any parasites on him and he was eating fine. I came home today he was dead. I tested water and there was ammonia in the tank. I don't know if it was from him sitting in the tank all day dead or was it there and that's what killed him. I had a ammonia badge in the tank and it is still saying zereo!There useless!

What do I do from here? Do I drain tank throw out hob filter and don't bother cycling tank for new fish?

 

[Maritimer]

Ouch. Sorry to hear about your tang...

The ammonia badges do work, as a general rule, and a dead fish in the tank would begin to produce ammonia - wondering, which test kit did you use, and what was the reading that it gave you?

Were you treating for anything, or observing only?

~Bruce, who maintains Aqua-Clear 110s, with bacteria-infested media on his QT

 

[jpcrash1]

Hi, thanks. I used a api test kit was reading .50 ammonia. I was observing him.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Copper in the water can cause an ammonia reading in test kits, but not badges.

API gives slightly elavated ammonia readings in saltwater.