Inaccurate Ammonia Test kit

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FreshwaterHawaii

Gambusia
MFK Member
Apr 1, 2011
203
0
16
Hawaii
So i purchased an API ammonia test kit about a month ago. I've been basing all of my water changes/water treatments off of the results of this ammonia test kit. After a month of my test kit reading .5 for ammonia, countless water changes, multiple purchases of water conditioners and a lot of stress, i decided to test my tap water. My tap water read the exact same .5. I thought to myself, either this test kit is bad or my water company wants to kill me.

My question is, can i still use this test kit and subtract .5 from every reading? Or should i just toss it? I'm not sure it works that way but anyways. Also, is there a better brand test kit i can use or did i just get the one in a million bad kit?

Thanks everybody!!!!
 
There's a good chance you're tap water has ammonia, but the bacteria in the tank should process that to 0. What product do you use to de-chlorinate? some of them cause false ammonia readings
 
Really? Household tap water can contain ammonia? I did not know that. Right now i'm using hikari ultimate to condition the water and also have used aquasafe plus.
 
Test your ammonia the next day after a water change. I suspect you have chloroamines in your tapwater. No problem if you are using Prime, keeps it in the harmless ammonium form while bacteria processes them
 
I've heard of tapwater containing small amounts of ammonia, I looked up my city's water quality report and ours is listed at 0, but as I said the bacteria would have it at 0 within 24 hours of adding it to the tank. I'm not familiar with the products you use for water conditioner, maybe you could look for a FAQ page on the manufacturers site to see if it causes a false positive ammonia test. most products that I know of will only affect test results within 48 hours of using it though.
 
Well, i've been doing water changes a week straight of about 30%. I test before every water change and after (about 5-6 hours later). The test kit always reads .25 no matter if i do a water change or not. I've also used stability for a week and i couldnt understand why my tank wasn't cycled. Thats why im thinking the test kit is wrong because my tank should be cycled with stability. And yes I did follow the directions correctly.

But to be on the safe side, ill test the water again tomorrow and do a water change immediately after. Then ill test a few hours late.

Thanks for the input.
 
I purchased these products before i joined MFK. Prime seems to be the favorite on here so i did purchase a bottle but im waiting for it to reach Hawaii. I think i may call my water company just to check.
shellies215;5163579; said:
I've heard of tapwater containing small amounts of ammonia, I looked up my city's water quality report and ours is listed at 0, but as I said the bacteria would have it at 0 within 24 hours of adding it to the tank. I'm not familiar with the products you use for water conditioner, maybe you could look for a FAQ page on the manufacturers site to see if it causes a false positive ammonia test. most products that I know of will only affect test results within 48 hours of using it though.
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sorry for retard question but did you shake the stability before use i am not familiar with your test kit but o API you need to exactly have the right measurement on on the test tube and per drop your dropping the chemical.
 
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