Salt causing ammonia?

Bryan47 · Mar 30, 2015

Ok everyone I posted on my local R2R club forum with no answers so hopefully you guys can help me out.

My LFS told me I had an ammonia reading in my tank of .025ppm and I found this odd but I hadn't tested for ammonia since my tank first cycled about 9 months ago. So I tested my tank and got a reading of about .25 it was a little under but the API test kit did not show clear yellow green like when I tested tap water.

My tap water read .00ppm and so did my RODI water. So I tested fresh mixed RODI and got .25

I am using IO reef crystals. This is with faucet temperature water immediately after mixing and I tested after 24 hours of mixing with a powerhead. I tried using Tropic Marin and got the same result. Is this a false reading or is some type of interaction causing ammonia?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you!!!

deerhunter06 · Mar 30, 2015

90% of LFS are morons. API test kit ALWAYS has a light tint of green when ammonia is 0. I promise you there is no ammonia in your salt.

Bryan47 · Mar 30, 2015

That makes me feel better. My nitrites has been 0 so I was thinking if there was ammonia it would be getting converted. Thank you!

redfishbluefish · Mar 30, 2015

Ammonia is used to extract some of the chemicals in salt mixes....so it's common to see a small amount in fresh made salt. HERE's a Randy article that might be of interest. Hope this helps.

Bryan47 · Mar 30, 2015

I will check that out. So is it normal like deerhunter said for me to get a light green API result ?

redfishbluefish · Mar 30, 2015

Yes, it's normal. HERE is some additional info for you right from SeaChem.

And I'll quote the important part about ammonia from the above link here:

"Consequently, most, if not all, brands of salt contain ammonia, usually enough to yield between 0.1–0.8 mg/L in a freshly prepared batch of saltwater. In most instances, this may not be a problem because the ammonia is diluted by the existing tank water and the biological filter should clear it in short order. But, it is definitely not a promotionable feature of any salt, and, for that reason, has remained a well kept secret."

Bryan47 · Mar 30, 2015

Wow thank you so much! Should I add some prime just to detoxify for fish?

redfishbluefish · Mar 30, 2015

I wouldn't. The biology in your established tank should quickly take care of this ammonia.

EDIT: Just realized I should say, "I don't".....because I do a 20 to 24 percent water change every two weeks....introducing ammonia every time.

deerhunter06 · Mar 30, 2015

that is interesting redfish, didnt know that.....however it probably isnt even detectable in hobby grade test kits am i right?

redfishbluefish · Mar 30, 2015

deerhunter06 said:
that is interesting redfish, didnt know that.....however it probably isnt even detectable in hobby grade test kits am i right?

It's detectable if your kit can read 0.5 to 1.0 ppm....because that's about were it comes in with fresh saltwater. But please remember that you are only doing some relatively small percent water change, and in an established tank, this ammonia is quickly picked up into the nitrate cycle and is "neutralized."

Bryan47 · Mar 30, 2015

I've been doing water changes trying to get rid of it...I guess that's not going to happen lol

GreatWhiteTang · Mar 30, 2015

It is normal for your salt to have this when freshly mixed.. If your testing your display and still getting readings somethings off.

Bryan47 · Mar 30, 2015

I've done two 15 gallon water changes and a 5 gallon almost everyday for the past week trying to get rid of Nitrates and I think all this new water is what's causing the small reading in the display. Also had a fish die so I think the tank should do its thing. I am in the process of upgrading from about 68 gallon total system to a little over 100 and making some upgrades to the sump and skimming.

deerhunter06 · Mar 30, 2015

GreatWhiteTang said:
It is normal for your salt to have this when freshly mixed.. If your testing your display and still getting readings somethings off.

Quit scaring him Greatwhitetang its the DANG test kit. Come on everyone knows API test kit always has a slight green tint when its 0.

deerhunter06 · Mar 30, 2015

Bryan47 said:
I've done two 15 gallon water changes and a 5 gallon almost everyday for the past week trying to get rid of Nitrates and I think all this new water is what's causing the small reading in the display. Also had a fish die so I think the tank should do its thing. I am in the process of upgrading from about 68 gallon total system to a little over 100 and making some upgrades to the sump and skimming.

I dont think so man if your tank is properly cycled i would assume this ammonia from the salt would be processed so quickly that it would never even register on your test kit. Just like fish poop its ammonia but we dont get readings on it.

Now as to your fish dying i didnt know that.....What kind of fish?

GreatWhiteTang · Mar 30, 2015

Bryan47 said:
I've done two 15 gallon water changes and a 5 gallon almost everyday for the past week trying to get rid of Nitrates and I think all this new water is what's causing the small reading in the display. Also had a fish die so I think the tank should do its thing. I am in the process of upgrading from about 68 gallon total system to a little over 100 and making some upgrades to the sump and skimming.

Sounds like a lot going on and a larger water volume diluting a biological hiccup I wouldn't worry too much about it either way, was just stating they don't read below 1 and if your seeing some green. There is ammonia present, yes I would get a different kit, no I wouldmt worry much give all the biology time to correct after all the moving and tinkering.

deerhunter06 said:
Quit scaring him Greatwhitetang its the DANG test kit. Come on everyone knows API test kit always has a slight green tint when its 0.

Not scaring anybody but api kits are not that unreliable. I see. A slight green on freshly mixed water but never on my display when testing with their kits. If I do see a slight green I would test with a kit with a lower range to. See. Where it's at.

deerhunter06 · Mar 30, 2015

i give up...You should never worry about ammonia after your cycle unless you add 50 fish at once or live rock with die off something like that. I havent checked my ammonia in 2 years, the only time i do is if im cycling a new tank.

GreatWhiteTang · Mar 31, 2015

deerhunter06 said:
i give up...You should never worry about ammonia after your cycle unless you add 50 fish at once or live rock with die off something like that. I havent checked my ammonia in 2 years, the only time i do is if im cycling a new tank.

I agree once a system is established it is a menial and useless task and that u do not do it on a regular basis by any means, but with that said he is making volume changes, and adding and messing with biological Filtration aspects that can cause spikes, it's Not Entirely a bad idea to test just to make sure

Bryan47 · Mar 31, 2015

It was a false moorish idol or stripped banner fish. Small. Was on the powerhead so that probably helped to spread any nitrates. He had just been added with another fish that is doing fine. I had nitrates down to 5-10 but now reading around 30 so doing a 15 gallon change to reduce that.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 31, 2015

As others have mentioned, salt mixes do have a small amount of ammonia, but unless you are doing frequent, massive water changes, it is a trivially small contribution relative to the large amounts produced in the tank every day from metabolized fish food.