Help me out with a quickie...

thewolfman777

thewolfman777

Member
I have a quick couple of questions I need some advice on. My tank has been cycling for a month now. I had my ammo. spike, then my trite spike, and my trates are hanging @ around 20-40. Throughout my whole cycle my ammo. has been around .25 (after the spike). Now my trites are @ 0. My point is I really don't have much faith in my test kit (Aquairum Pharm. Master Test Kit). Now since my trites are at 0, is this a pretty good indicator that my ammo. is really @ 0 or is it normal to still have ammo. showing after your trite spike has reached 0??? Other than this my cycle has gone well.
Also, I have read numerous times that people check for acidity and alkalinity. I was under the assumption that this is being checked while your testing your PH. Am I just misunderstanding this or are there other test kits to seperately test for acidity and alkalinity??? Thank you for your help... :D :cool: :D
 
partonks

partonks

Member
I had the exact same problem. It turned out that my test kit was screwed up. For peace of mind, I took my water into my LFS and they tested it to show 0 ammonia.
 
thewolfman777

thewolfman777

Member
i know, I went out and bought another test kit but made the mistake of buying the same brand, went from liquid to pill kit, stupid mistake. that is a good idea though to bring it to the LFS. What test kit do you use or anyone else that they like and find to be accurate???
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
Well ..
If you have FISH in the tank, you will ALWAYS have some ammonia in the tank - that's a fact.
Whether or not your ammonia test kit can accurately distinguish low levels depends on the resolution of the test kit and the "actual" amount of ammonia present.
Test kits are about the only affordable way we have right now for telling where these levels are at, but sometimes they are difficult to read at the low end :(
Ever notice how many people post the level .25 ammonia ? Well .... there ya go.
pH test kits will let you know the acid/base relationship of your tank water, or the concentrations of H+ and OH- ions along the 0-14 pH scale.
Alkalinity test kits will let you know your buffer level - and is more related to a measurement of you water's carbonate, bicarbonate, phosphate, silicate and borate anions. All these compounds work together to produce alkalinity.
HTH
Broomer ;)
 
thewolfman777

thewolfman777

Member
Thanks Broomer. I was just under the impression that ammo. was never to be present in the tank after the cycle was up and running, unless your system cannot handle the bioload. I have read numerous times that ammo. should never show in your tank and if it does there is a problem. Does your tank show ammo. readings? As I said my test kit sux and am not happy with the readings, what test kit are you using? Should it be safe to assume that my ammo. levels are normal now since my trites are at 0???
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
Guess I should have been more specific.
You are right - ideally, ammonia SHOULD never be present and a reading of zero is what you SHOULD strive for.
Ammonia NH3 is very toxic to many fish and inverts, especially at higher pH levels.
Levels above .2 to .5 mg/l can be cause stress or death. So you are correct in thinking that the level SHOULD BE zero.
I use fasTest ammonia kits and my ammonia levels read zero - even with my slight color-blindness -sometimes I need a second opinion distinguishing colors :p - girlfriend is most helpful in that department
Assuming your levels are at zero may not be too good - although you are probably right - you might want to get another test kit and compare.
Salifert are good, fasTests are decent.
Sorry for any confusion on my first reply <img src="graemlins//urrr.gif" border="0" alt="[urrr]" />
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
Fish eat
Fish poop
Fish pee
Excess food breaks down
Wastes break down
Ammonia in there believe me - it just may not show up on our kits at these low levels - and then hopefully the bacteria start processing it before it reaches detectable levels.
What more can we expect from a $10.00 test kit ?
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
wolfman, i agree the best way to double check yourself is to take a sample in to your lfs, we do regularly, just to double check anyhow, most will do it for free
 
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