I Need Help With My Tank

[rrfreak]

I have a new tank, it is 15 gallons, and when i use prime, the ammonia doesnt go down, it just either stays the same or goes up! Please i need help!!!!

 

[minxfishy]

How long has the tank been set up, was it cycled prior to adding fish, what test kit are you using?

 

[Amunet]

Prime turns ammonia in to the non-toxic form I think... It doesn't get rid of it.
Sounds like your tank is still cycling. Best way to get rid of ammonia is to do lots and lots of water changes.

 

[wolfwolf]

Q: I am using Prime™ to control ammonia but my test kit says it is not doing anything, in fact it looks like it added ammonia! What is going on?

A: A Nessler based kit will not read ammonia properly if you are using Prime™... it will look "off scale", sort of a muddy brown (incidentally a Nessler kit will not work with any other products similar to Prime™). A salicylate based kit can be used, but with caution. Under the conditions of a salicylate kit the ammonia-Prime complex will be broken down eventually giving a false reading of ammonia (same as with other products like Prime™), so the key with a salicylate kit is to take the reading right away. However, the best solution ;-) is to use our MultiTest: Ammonia™ kit... it uses a gas exchange sensor system which is not affected by the presence of Prime™ or other similar products. It also has the added advantage that it can detect the more dangerous free ammonia and distinguish it from total ammonia (which is both the free and ionized forms of ammonia (the ionized form is not toxic)).


from seachems website....