Ammonia high levels

[Russ2123]

I have tried everything water changes and even prime and I cant get my ammonia levels down. Is there anything else I can try?

 

[TekFish]

Are you sure it's not a faulty test? Are there fish in the tank? Water changes 100% get rid of ammonia. So if your ammonia level doesn't fall after a water change, I'd suspect that the test is either inaccurate, gone off, or performed wrong.

It's a common mistake not to shake the bottle enough. Did you do that?

 

[StevenF]

Are you sure it's not a faulty test?

You can check for faulty or false ammonia reading. Test a sample of water from your tap. If you have RO or di water you can also test that. RO and DI don't have ammonia and you should see a zero reading. Tap water seldom has ammonia in it and most people will see a zero reading.

Another thing you could do is get a bottle of ammonia with the concentration listed on the bottle (it doesn't have to be pure for this test). Then use the calculator in the link below with a 1 liter bottle and make a water ammonia solution that according to the calculator will have 3ppm concentration of ammonia. Then test that solution with your test kit. The test kit should show 3ppm. http://www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.htm

If you have reason to doubt your test kit gt a new one. Although I use tetra 6 in 1 test strips, Don't get the Tetra ammonia test strips. You can easily get a false breading if you don't read it right away. A liquid test kit is preferred. I personally use a hanna instruments ammonia checker. it costs $50 but should give you an accurate reading for years.

http://hannainst.com/hi700-ammonia-...N1nV3EkqoxJzNrfAeZsrUFnuunaYIVg4lfhoCB6nw_wcB

the only other suggestion I would have is to remove all dead algae in the aquarium. If that is rotting it will release ammonia. IF the treatment killed any plants also remove those.