Well the total ammonia level was always zero before I converted a normal aquarium into a planted one. The nitrate level was around 5 ppm before converting the aquarium into a planted one.
At present, the total ammonia reading is 0.25 ppm, hopefully the 0.25 value reflects ammonium, which is now apparently harmless. I better throw away the leaflets that say it's something hazardous! As for nitrate, the level of this is 10 ppm or just over.
I now have a Seachem Free & Total Ammonia test kit which I will use to determine whether I have ammonia or ammonium in the water column. I'm 100% sure it is ammonium but I'd like to conduct a test to know for sure.
Ammonium concentration: (awaiting test result)
TPN+ is something I will continue to avoid; maybe there is something else in it that my fish don't appreciate. All I can say, without the notion of cause and effect, is that the TPN+ I added caused the response that I described above. It's mainly the response that helps me reach this conclusion as it was a response which I've never witnessed in the aquarium before; it seemed to be a unique effect of the use of TPN+.
At present, the total ammonia reading is 0.25 ppm, hopefully the 0.25 value reflects ammonium, which is now apparently harmless. I better throw away the leaflets that say it's something hazardous! As for nitrate, the level of this is 10 ppm or just over.
I now have a Seachem Free & Total Ammonia test kit which I will use to determine whether I have ammonia or ammonium in the water column. I'm 100% sure it is ammonium but I'd like to conduct a test to know for sure.
Ammonium concentration: (awaiting test result)
TPN+ is something I will continue to avoid; maybe there is something else in it that my fish don't appreciate. All I can say, without the notion of cause and effect, is that the TPN+ I added caused the response that I described above. It's mainly the response that helps me reach this conclusion as it was a response which I've never witnessed in the aquarium before; it seemed to be a unique effect of the use of TPN+.
