Reading colorimetric test results

[wwarby]

I'm struggling to interpret my colorimetric test results. I don't know whether my eyes are just not able to accurately discern subtle variations in colour, or I've bought a badly designed test kit, or it's just a skill I need to develop. Below is the result of my amonia test this morning. I feel like I could go anywhere between < 0.05 (safe) and 0.2 (serious concern) with this reading. None of the matches seem exactly right - if forced I think I'd go half way between 0.05 and 0.1, so 0.075. Dissenting opinions welcome Some of the tests seem far less ambiguous than others. The test kit I'm using is the JBL Pro Aquatest.

I really like the idea of those Hanna electronic tests because they take all the guesswork out of the reading itself, but they're expensive. If I decided to go that route, which ones should I prioritise getting first? Otherwise, any advice on test result interpretation would be appreciated. This is for a 50 gallon tank with a mantis shrimp and two clownfish (no corals yet).

 

[brandon429]

You don't need to test for ammonia any further for the life of the tank, problem just solved.

Rationale: you're carrying life already in the tank and since I've never met anyone who added those animals to a tank without any bottled bacteria you are good to go. They'd already be dead if you weren't cycled. The daily feeding alone would crash your system in 48 hours if the tank wasn't cycled

Ammonia isn't a drifting parameter
It doesn't lift out of spec requiring your supplementation or help occasionally.

And lastly, those non digital kits always cause a scare mainly because when we see any color beyond zero that seems bad but the truth is, it's not.

If you never tested for ammonia again for the life of this tank it would run the same as if you tested and responded to readings twice a day.

 

[brandon429]

To finally shore up your cycle issue post a pic of the tank, we'll do a surface area breakdown and a visual cue analysis that your cycle is done and just fine

Let us know how many days the water has been in the system and what kind of bottle bac you used. The readings above will play 0% in assessing your cycle status

Do not be concerned over your readings i collect these events here below and show those exact readings above in fully cycled years old sps tanks

Sustained Ammonia spikes are misreads

The reason you think your reef tank can’t control its ammonia is due to false training from old cycling science. That and you don’t own a seneye on the tank in question: if you did, you wouldn’t ever think your ammonia was out of control...

www.reef2reef.com

Notice how many tank owners were freaking out, I try to calm them but they won't listen lol

Sustained ammonia alerts in reef displays are misreads, false alarms and an issue of nh4 vs nh3 and misunderstanding of the difference between the states of ammonia.

If you were running a quarantine testing using the alert badge would be ok

But not in a display, it's not needed, you can stop testing for ammonia bc your rock stack surface area is so strong... post tank pic

 

[brandon429]

I see in prior posts your tank has plenty of rock and started a couple weeks ago. Indeed that's long enough for all the common cycling bacteria mixes to get set up

Specifically, in Dr. Reefs bottle bac thread study all mixes were ready long before two weeks


What kind of bottle bac did u use

 

[wwarby]

Thanks @brandon429, much appreciated. I used JBL Denitrol, which went into the tank just under a week ago (the water went in a few days before that).

To be honest I wasn't particularly stressing about the ammonia level specifically. Yesterday I tested ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, KH, calcium and phosphate levels - partly because I just wanted to get myself familiar with how the testing system works, and I observed that on a few of the tests I found it quite hard to discriminate between the nearly identical shades of colouration in the charts. Ammonia seemed particularly hard to read, and obviously there isn't much benefit in running water tests if I don't know how to accurately interpret the results (though I accept what you're saying about the benefit of testing for ammonia specifically).

My clowns have been in the tank since Saturday - the bacteria bottle went in a few hours earlier. The mantis shrimp went in two days ago. Water is clear, no algae so far, all livestock is happy and healthy. Just learning as I go

 

[WVNed]

A colorimetric test produces a range of colors. It is an analog test. It will only occasionally match exactly the ones on the card. The ones on the card are to give you a range as your test result.
Instead of thinking which matches the color your test produces think about the result being lighter than a color so it is less than that but darker than another so it is more than that.
I would read that test as being between .05 and 0.1 with it being closer to 0.1

 

[brandon429]

It’s ideal surface area and dilution for the bioload for sure can proceed onward without any cycling concern. In a bigger tank like that destined to house mixed fish you don’t want to add in lots of fish now for disease vectoring reasons, nothing to do with filter limitation. By the time you assess and deploy disease prevention protocols that timing alone will have the tank fully cycled if it’s not by this time / the ability to carry and entire tank of fish

it’s cycled enough now for the current bioload clearly

A couple clowns are commonly used in reefing without preps for sure and do well 99% of the time. But beyond that, when you get into assorted species you’ll really wish the system was fallow and quarantine prepped.

 

[mdb_talon]

As far as prioritizing hanna tests i personally only feel that the phosphate and nitrate are worthwhile. The phosphate would definetely be ehat i prioritize. Nitrate next if i want the greater precision it gives. Alkalinity is easy and gives great precision but the reagents have issues in mine and many others experience. Calc and Mag are essentially useless at this point if you want an accurate number.