Api stress coat vs ammonia test

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Fenton

Fenton

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 12, 2013
296
1
18
Staffordshire, England
Using the above and get the following ammonia test results.
Tank water 0.25
tap water 0.00
tap water and dose of stress coat 0.25

i use the api stress coat and a 3 month old api ammonia test kit. 8drips of bottle 1&2 etc

Does this mean I'm getting a false positive?

Im going to need a stress coat soon if I don't get this sorted. Answers really appreciated.

NitrAte between 10 and 20 depending on when water was changed

nitrIte is always 0


thanks.
 
I think most of these conditioner products such as Prime and Stress coat, They actually just detoxy the Ammonia and Nitrite. So after you use the conditioner in the water it will always read Ammonia, but it will be detoxified so it isn't harmful. I dont know the chemical process but i do know that Ammonia is always present after using conditioner. Should be nothing to worry about if you are using the proper amount of conditioner.


By the way did you get your name from the video of the guy chasing his dog??? hahahaha
 
Owain4 said:
I think most of these conditioner products such as Prime and Stress coat, They actually just detoxy the Ammonia and Nitrite. So after you use the conditioner in the water it will always read Ammonia, but it will be detoxified so it isn't harmful. I dont know the chemical process but i do know that Ammonia is always present after using conditioner. Should be nothing to worry about if you are using the proper amount of conditioner.


By the way did you get your name from the video of the guy chasing his dog??? hahahaha
Click to expand...


im from the uk. It's my surname but a link to the video would be cool! Thanks for your info though would do anything about it?
 
Owain4 said:
I think most of these conditioner products such as Prime and Stress coat, They actually just detoxy the Ammonia and Nitrite. So after you use the conditioner in the water it will always read Ammonia, but it will be detoxified so it isn't harmful. I dont know the chemical process but i do know that Ammonia is always present after using conditioner. Should be nothing to worry about if you are using the proper amount of conditioner.


By the way did you get your name from the video of the guy chasing his dog??? hahahaha
Click to expand...

Stress coat detoxifies ammonia, it does nothing for nitrites/nitrates. Prime neutralizes all three.

Ammo is not always present after use, since ammonia is not an ingredient of water conditioner.




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Fenton said:
so should i be doing anything about me readings or is it a false positive?
Click to expand...

To my knowledge, the water conditioner itself will dissipate over a short period of time. I think I read somewhere that prime dissipates in a week. Not sure about Stress Coat. Google it because I'm not a chemist.

To answer your question, we need to know if the "tank water" you tested was before or after a water change? What is your ammo today and nitrItes today<----this might change my answer but...

Based on the info you've given here so far, my input would be:

Are your nitrItes still zero as of today? If not, you either added new fish or you over cleaned your bio media. In either of these cases you have a new mini cycle going on, commonly called "bacteria bloom." In this case you might need to amp up your water changes to avoid nitrite or ammo poisoning until the cycle is complete.

Or, If nitrItes ARE still at zero this might indicate a false positive because I cant imagine an ammo spike that wasn't followed by a nitrIte spike, in accordance with the nitrogen cycle. In this case, and since your nitrAtes are relatively low, assuming the 20ppm you quoted is before a water change, I would leave the tank as it is for a week and a half and then test the water before the change. This should give plenty of time for the conditioner to be dissipated and/or removed by the filter. At that point I can't see the possibility for a false positive. To be safe, with this method i would test all three cycle parameters daily because the danger with this paragraph is that if it's not a false positive, you will have poisoned your fish with ammonia for a week and a half.

Again, what are your levels today.


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Let me say first, you guys are awesome this is much appreciated. Just tested my water ammonia is 0.25 (as always) nitrIte0 and nitrate is 15. My last water change was yesterday about 2 hours after the op.

i did ring out the mechanical sponges when I did the wc in a bucket of water syphoned from the tank while I was draining it for the wc. They looked far from brand new so can't see it being overkill. The bio balls were left alone. And I leave my uv steriliser off for 2 days very time I do a wc to make sure this doesn't effect the stress coat

thanks
 
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