Major Ammonia Spike!

[Bobocat]

Im cycling both a main tank and a quarantine tank. The quarantine tank was set up a couple of days ago. Ph is 7, ammonia tested 0, nitrites tested 0.
I added Bio-spira (live bacteria thats supposed to break down ammonia) to aid in the cycling to both my main and quarantine tank. My quarantine tank is a 15 gal tank and I added two 1 inch platys (tiny little fish). Now, i tested the water and the ammonia level is off the chart. I did a 15% water change and it made no difference. My main tank is still at 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites. My quarantine tank is the one testing for high ammonia. Could this be a false positive? I dont think two 1 inch plays could spike up the ammonia level from 0 to off the chart in matter of hours. Any suggestions? Im thinking the bio-spira is working rapidly hence causing some sort of false positive but I dont know... Please help

Btw, the fish look like they're doing fine.

 

[Alien Anna]

I'd always err on the side of caution (and incidently, no bacterial product can work instantly, whatever you've been told - the bacteria have to colonise the gravel and filter media first). Assume the ammonia levels are high - 2 fish could quite easily produce an ammonia spike in a matter of hours in an un-cycled tank, but get a double-check by taking a sample of water to your LFS. Test kits do sometimes fail.

Good luck and get back to us if you have any more problems.

 

[alex818]

I was thinking about using Bio-spira too, let me know about your results.

 

[pondfreak4365]

Do the packaging instructions for the Bio-Spira mention anything about testing postive? What do you use for chlorine/chloramine removal? Some products require you to use an ammonia test with a salicylate rather than a Nessler reagent. I use Bio-Safe, also made by Marineland Labs, which states on the bottle that you will get a false positive reading for ammonia with a Nessler reagent.

 

[Lithril]

Must admit I'd definately get a recheck at the lfs but I'd also be either doing several small (10-15%) water changes or one major one, apparently in extreme cases you can go up to 75%. It may be worth starting frequent smaller ones until you get a confirmation either way. Recently I was doing 20% changes daily to keep the levels under control until the tank started cycling properly.

If it is that high I'm surprised that your platys are still alive

 

[Bobocat]

I think I know what the problem is. I posted this subject in the emergency section and req2k2 responded suggesting that the Amquel may be giving a false positive reading. I took a sample from my larger tank (which probably has amquel far more diluted) and it was showing 0, I put a couple of drops of amquel into the test tube and got a huge false positive. Apparently, Amquel is incompatible with Nessler type ammonia test kits which is what I have. I'll buy another test kit to make sure its ok.

BTW, pondfreak4365, Yes you are right too.

Thanks all! This forum is Great!!!

 

[Alien Anna]

I think I know what the problem is. I posted this subject in the emergency section and req2k2 responded suggesting that the Amquel may be giving a false positive reading. I took a sample from my larger tank (which probably has amquel far more diluted) and it was showing 0, I put a couple of drops of amquel into the test tube and got a huge false positive. Apparently, Amquel is incompatible with Nessler type ammonia test kits which is what I have. I'll buy another test kit to make sure its ok.

Thanks all! This forum is Great!!!

Good thing to know for future reference. I was trying to help our friend with the discus and the uncycled tank (looking for save anti-ammonia and anti-nitrite products) and this is something I had heard of but forgotten about those ammonia products. Great call!

 

[Lithril]

Food for thought, is it worth having another section in this forum where useful points can be pinned, no discussions or anything just facts that people might need, be interesting to browse through. Any discussions like this one could be moved by our beloved moderators???

Just an idea
take care all, glad you got your problem sorted bobocat

 

[reg2k2]

Ammo-Lock2 should give accurate readings...