Ammonia At 8ppm!

[Paavn]

thats a pretty random reference to hollywood

Have you considered that the water test solutions may be reading badly?

I have found the API kits to massively over read both ammonia and nitrate to the point I lost any and all faith in them and ceased using them. All the kits we use in the hobby are likely to fail positive (so they are far more likely to detect that which is not there than miss that which is).

If you are really that worried do a 50% water change, or even a 100% and start again. Otherwise just don't add any more until it starts to go down.

this might be a problem cause i have the API kit. i'll just take a water sample to the LFS and ask them to run a test for me just to sure.

thanks andywg and olmman47

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, should really award the sunglasses to Andy as he is a Star at coming in and reminding us of the sometimes random nature of our tools.

Indeed, some percentage of tanks will break, some percentage of heaters will pop, some percentage of pumps will fail, some percentage of light fixtures will die and go dark, some percentage of fish will be sick when you bring them home and some percentage of any kind of water test kit will be off from what it should. Test kits being off can be one of the harder problems to figure out!

A trip to the LFS to get their numbers on the same tank water is a good additional piece of data and I would do that, but be aware that the result they give can be pretty random too!

Ammonia reading of 4ppm or 8ppm can be pretty close on the API test, so another thing to be sure of is that you are taking all your readings in the same light situation. I use a light under which I can always hold the card and sample the same distance away to help cut down some on all the variations.

I'd suspect by now you've figured out and diluted your tank ammonia level, so from here on I'd just keep an eye on the readings and maybe do some more LFS comparisons if things still seem off. Unfortunately the strips are not going to be a good comparison I don't think.

Good luck and keep us informed!
~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah the problem is all the test kits available to those of us without a science lab at home are relatively inaccurate. the liquid ones are about the best that we can et hold of, but there is a realistic degree of inaccuacy.

the fish shop are likely to be using the same sort of calibre of test kit as you would so while it can give an indication of a dodgy test kit don't expect theirs to be spot on either.

all the readings are indicative, nitrate especially so **ducks and waits for andy's rant on api nitrate test kits**

so as andy say's if you're worried then dilute it (personally i would, better safe than sorry) down to about 5ppm, if not then leave it and just wait for it to drop.

shame you can't get any mature media but no panic, plenty of people cycle sucessfully without it.

 

[Paavn]

thanks guys. i had my water tests done at the LFS but the lady that did them for me seemed to not know what she was doing... she kept calling her husband to ask how to do the tests so i think i'll just go back when he's actually there. i did do the water change and retested the water and now the ammonia readings are at what seems to be just over 4ppm. now im not as worried about my tank not cycling

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, that's the classic problem with getting the LFS to "double-check" your own tests... sometimes they are worse at it than you as a beginner! Its good that you were able to observe what was going on as that will leave you with a strong memory of why your own efforts are often better than help from the LFS, although I agree with your idea to go back when the main fellow can do it.

It sounds like you are off to a better start now and you may observe that it takes a fair amount of time before the first dose of ammonia will drop all the way to zero. Remember that you want to establish a time block within the 24 hours of a day that will be your regular period in which to add ammonia. Usually people choose either the morning before work or the evening so that they can see a 12-hour result the next morning. Eventually its at the 12 and/or 24 hour mark after having added ammonia that you care the most about what results you got. For now, one set of ammonia and pH tests a day will be sufficient, then after ammonia starts dropping, you can add in the nitrite test and begin testing twice a day if you want.

A logbook is important, as its the "trends" in your tests that will show you more eventually than any one test set.

~~waterdrop~~
ps. can't seem to get any laughs out of this group so I'll just put on my sunglasses

 

[Paavn]

thanks waterdrop. i'll start my log today. finally done with finals i think i picked a bad time to start a new hobby.

i used to live in kenya so alot of things in the hollywood area seem strange at first glance like what hotdog stand is open till 3 in the morning?!

 

[waterdrop]

that's it, now you're making me laugh.. a hotdog stand open a 3am, that's a good one!

It becomes such a regular thing, dispensing info in the beginners section, that we need a few attempts at humor thown in!

Glad you got your log going there Paavn! What I did in ours was to make entries like:

date,time,tank temperature, ammonia, NO2, NO3, pH, KH, water clarity judgement, tank observations...
then I was very explicit about any actions I took in the tank, like how much of anything and what I added, what I cleaned, what the algae looked like if any,
all sorts of stuff like that.

At the time you can't imagine that you won't remember these things, but later you will be SO, SO, glad that you were detailed! Its invaluable to be able to look back and know details. For instance, you can note whenever you bought something and where. In the back of your notebook you can put addresses and phone numbers of places you buy things and names of people who work there, so you can be nice to them next time, stuff like that.

Well, I'm going to picture you wearing sunglasses out there, cause we're having the most awful wet, rainy foggy dreary.... you get the picture!
~~waterdrop~~

 

[Paavn]

i wish it was sunny here! my car was frozen over this morning..... not fun when its time to get to a final lol

i'll try to be as detailed as i can get in my log.
thanks waterdrop, i was daunted at first by all the pieces and parts but im settling down and getting more interested