Is there ammonia?

[whatchamacallit]

I honestly can't see the difference between the colors! I know it's an API test kit, I'm cycling a tank so it will suffice

What color do you see? Lol

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Looks like about 0.25 ppm.

 

[Sabellafella]

You used shrimp or ammoniumcloride

 

[whatchamacallit]

Thanks randy

 

[whatchamacallit]

You used shrimp or ammoniumcloride

I used Larry's fish food in the filter sock

 

[Sabellafella]

Lmaoo good choice yea just give it some time try to get it up to 1.0

 

[whatchamacallit]

Maybe I'll add more food?

 

[brandon429]

I have a counter take

post pics of your tank rocks to see if a very certain detail exists to mean no ammonia, since .25 has been shown to be zero says API in six thousand search returns. since there are also nine API kits in the world that show .25 when there really is .25, we have a confound here and in my opinion only coralline can be the referee.



post FTS showing the detail of the rock.

 

[whatchamacallit]

I have no clue what you just said Brandon?

 

[brandon429]

Can you post a pic of your rocks

api test kits at this level can mean both .25 and zero, that's why its confusing. search out that detail on google, you'll see. .25 has been detected in distilled water by api users and posted online, meaning the kit was wrong. and some were truly zero as well...at times the kit is right at low level.


seeings rocks let's me know if they look uncured and unable to process low ammonia

 

[whatchamacallit]

My rock is man made. Looks like coralline already

 

[brandon429]

pics give other details too, but its not impossible to discern off verbal only either if needed. I figured you might be mid cycling a new tank or something and pics give all the age details needed...

real true coralline means you have a bunch of nitrifying bacteria, they are tied together, and its amazing that a bunch of nitrifiers leaks .25 as a constant...that means much higher is being cast out into the system. im a natural API skeptic that's all, pics would be awesome even of just a closeup of one of the rocks.

another nice way to get an idea is for you to test ammonia levels in known zero water, say some Dasani drinking water for example, or distilled, and post that test tube shot lets see if the colors are markedly different.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm very curious what you look for to visually detect nitrifying bacteria.

 

[brandon429]

good discussion topic imo, the implications of an incorrect vs correct ammonia test reading



in typical aquarium circles cured items underwater long enough to have coralline have nitrifying bacteria as a preceding community each time

dieoff can produce the low ammonia, pics help here to highlight things like porosity in rocks vs base rock with no room for worms etc but the general coralline association to nitrifying bacteria is strong.


You can have rocks chock full of bacteria with no coralline, as some systems don't support and generate it much. But these rocks here below all have nitrifiers in full complement and not in partial be cause of the coralline as a bioindicator


rocks from the pet store that do not ever need shrimp or ammonia added to maintain bacteria upon setting up in a new tank: