Ammonia Problems

[gravin]

hello i new to the forum and fish keeping, been having problems with my ammonia levels being high ( 2.o) so i took a sample to my local shop and they done a test for me and results said 0.1 when i came home i done a test again and the results were high again 2.0 then i notcied that the test kit is out of date 2007. i have been using a api freshwater master test kit ,the fish in my tank seem very happy ,has anybody had any problems with these test kit. any advise would help thank you.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the API test kit is one of the most accurate around, it's what I've always used and I've never had any problems.

but the shelf life is there for a reason, chemicals don't keep forever so i think that explains why your results are the same as the shops at least.

suggest you get yourself a new test kit asap!

a reading of 0.1 is obviously much better than 2.0 but really any ammonia can be very harmful to your fish, what maintenance are you doing on the tank - it could be that you need to step up the water changes for a bit to keep it down at 0 until the tank stabilises.

 

[gravin]

the API test kit is one of the most accurate around, it's what I've always used and I've never had any problems.

but the shelf life is there for a reason, chemicals don't keep forever so i think that explains why your results are the same as the shops at least.

suggest you get yourself a new test kit asap!

a reading of 0.1 is obviously much better than 2.0 but really any ammonia can be very harmful to your fish, what maintenance are you doing on the tank - it could be that you need to step up the water changes for a bit to keep it down at 0 until the tank stabilises.

im doing 25% a week water change and feeding once a day small amount

 

[Miss Wiggle]

25% water change is a good weekly routine, but sometimes when a tank is new you need to do more than this until the tank matures.

how did you set the tank up, did you run it before you added fish for a few weeks or add anything to the water? how long has it been running now, how big is the tank and what fish do you have?

 

[gravin]

25% water change is a good weekly routine, but sometimes when a tank is new you need to do more than this until the tank matures.

how did you set the tank up, did you run it before you added fish for a few weeks or add anything to the water? how long has it been running now, how big is the tank and what fish do you have?

i put a jbl bacteria filterstart from day 1 left it for aweek before i put 4 plattys in. left it another week added 4 gramies the tank holds 200 litres the tank been runing for 3 weeks

 

[OldMan47]

Let me one of the first to welcome you back MW. The last time I saw you here I was fairly new at being accepted as knowing what I was doing on this forum. I must say that I have missed you here.

Unlike MW, I find that my ammonia readings are valid well beyond the shelf life that they advertise Gravin. My own kits show the same values whether they are within the 3 year limit advertised by API or are 10 years old, yes I have such old kits. I must assume that the API company is only standing behind their results for that long but the reagents are just fine for much longer.