Product Review: Seachem Ammonia Alert

[mwood2]

I made a topic about this item yesterday and seems no one has givin it a try. For 7 bucks I figured I would give it a try. The product shown below is pretty much a test strip on that changes color over time to relect the ammonia level of the water. The strip is said to last a year and read ammonia changes within 15min.

[URL="http/www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...amp;pcatid=4387"]http/www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...amp;pcatid=4387[/URL]

So here is my theory on it. I dont have high hopes on the accuracy but I expect enough accuracy for me to place it in a tank and keep an eye for water stat messups such as if you introduce new fish or after water changes. This also brings up another theory on its usefullness for a fishless cycle. My reason for that is if this is placed inside at the start of the cycle you will be able to see when the ammonia slowly begins to drop and keep an eye on it thus no testing every day to see if its dropping and makes the cycle somewhat easier to keep track of. Of course this is no substitute for a liquid test but I can see some uses.

Now as for my test, I will take a Dip and Pour Container that the LFS use and fill with declornated tap water, next I plan to use my jug of pure ammonia and drop 5 drops of ammonia, wait 15min and see what the thing says then liquid test it. Add another 5 drops and then test again and depending on my results use in my main tank. Of course i will post all results as I get them on here.


Suggestions/Ideas/Opinions?


EDIT:

ok for a quick test I filled up with tap water, added 10ml of ammonia and its changes from yellow safe to blue toxic. After emptying the water and adding more the colow blue lingered for a bit but after a few swishes in the water it changed to inbetween safe and alert. After about 15-20 min its now yellow. Thats all up to this point so it does seem to be effective to some point. I will soo add more ammonia and see if there are any more changes but it seems to be somewaht effective.

It was also a 1 liter container.

 

[VespertineStar]

Hmm, if it's accurate enough that would be great for fishless cycling as it is a bit of a chore testing twice a day especially near the beginning when not much, if anything, has changed.

 

[mwood2]

I would defently give this product a thumbs up for a fishless cycle. It decently can detect ammonia. I just added 2-3 ml of ammonia to 1 liter of water and swished it around and got an instant reading of around .5ml of ammonia. Again not a replacement for a liquid test but if you want an extra eye on your tank or doing a fishless cycle its worth the 7 bucks.

Also there is a PH model too. if your trying to keep an eye on your PH and keep at a specific level I can see that being useful as well.

 

[dthoffsett]

Interesting, I think the next step would be for someone to try this on a fishless cycle, alongside regular testing to see how it does over the course of the cycle.

 

[VespertineStar]

Oddly enough I'm about to start a fishless cycle soon, might try and pick one up and try it; also might try and remember to post back here if I do lol.

*edit: well that's that ordered, should be here in a few days.

 

[llamalord305]

Yes, tell me how that goes for the cycling. I'm genuinely interested.

 

[TarkMalbot]

I have just bought one to keep an eye on my new tank.  I have fish in it but used filter media, decor, plants and water from a fully established tank.  I will use it as a guide to do a water change as soon as it creeps up to alert and hopefully get a good cycle without too much harm to the fish.

 

[CezzaXV]

I've been wanting one of these for a while.

Personally, I wouldn't use it to fishless cycle as I've heard it's not super accurate and no substitute for a proper test, which is why most people warn against it. I'm also told it can take some time to alert you when ammonia becomes present, and even longer to go back to safe after the ammonia has gone.

I can understand their point, but now I'm cycled and my tank is stable I test my water on a very rare occasion when the mood takes me, so a product like this would definitely alert me to an ammonia problem before I would otherwise find out. I know when you're cycled you should really test your water once a week, but how many of us honestly do that?

Not sure how much they are in the US but in the UK you can expect to pay about £10 for one, which would I would be happy to pay if I didn't have to replace it every year. They also do a pH one, though I think this one only lasts three months.

 

[TarkMalbot]

The PH & Ammonia sold separately was about £11 each but buying a twin pack cost £14.

 

[DreamertK]

Sometimes it's hard to read. In some lights it looks super yellow and without the tank light on it'll look slightly green but not full on that color, then the nh3 test comes out as .2ppm. I put it above a bottle of windex and in about 30 sec it turned to deadly.

 

[CezzaXV]

The PH & Ammonia sold separately was about £11 each but buying a twin pack cost £14.

 
It's good for starting out, but the pH one requires replacing four times as often as the ammonia one, which is a pain. It's a shame because I'm looking to set up a marine tank soon, and maintaining a stable pH and staying ammonia free is much, much more important to me as mistakes are expensive as well as annoying/upsetting.