what do you think about this randy?

[wasp9166]

i know i ask your opinion on alot of things but i couldnt do this without reefcentral and guys like you, as always thnx


http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...48#post3164548

[jfinch]

If your ammonia kit is showing the exact same numbers for four weeks now, I would question the test kit. Do you have a local reefer nearby with an established tank that you could get a water sample from? If his water also shows ammonia, I wouldn't put too much stock in the test kit. I've got a Hagen ammonia test kit that will show ammonia all the time. Your nitrites are dropping... personally, I'd call it cycled when the nitrites reach zero. Maybe Randy has a different opinion.

[wasp9166]

im using salifert

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What type of water are you using for top off and to make new salt water?

Have you measured the ammonia level in the salt mix or top off water?

[wasp9166]

ro/di .........i keep my ro/di and my saltwater mix in 44 gal brute cans,i use crystal sea bioassay, test of ro/di was 0, test of saltwater was .25..............? why is that?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Either the kit is faulty, or the salt mix has a bit of ammonia in it (which it often does, or at least it appears to with test kits).

Still, that amount should decline rapidly in an aquarium, so I'm not sure why the tank also shows 0.25 ppm.

Can you try the kit on anyone elses established aquarium?

[wasp9166]

dont know anyone else at the moment

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Well, the options would seem to be wait, add a hardy creature or two, or get another test kit. All are reasonable approaches, IMO.

What had you hoped to add next?

[wasp9166]

clean up critters , check out my post on dr rons forum, there is a lengthy replie somone posted that you may have forgot about, im going to see if habib can respond to this

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm not sure what you are referring to in Ron's forum.

[Habib]

im going to see if habib can respond to this


Got your pm.

Is the color a light yellow when you test the tank water and the salt mix?

TIA

[wasp9166]

my post on ammonia reading of crystal sea bioassay, somone posted a link to an earlier thread you responded to,

[wasp9166]

Originally posted by Habib
im going to see if habib can respond to this


Got your pm.

Is the color a light yellow when you test the tank water and the salt mix?

TIA

yes more like a cream color, and its cloudy, not a real clear color like the nitrate or nitrite tests i did........but the closest i found on the card was .25....................

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

my post on ammonia reading of crystal sea bioassay, somone posted a link to an earlier thread you responded to,

links go forward, not backward. I had no idea what you were talking about since I have not been in Ron's forum recently.

Still, I can't tell what specific post you might be asking about in that other thread.

[wasp9166]

ok hows this =)

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=123912

seems this guy chad had a problem with a test kit giving him ammonia reading on a fresh salt mix, not a salifert kit but nonetheless the same problem i have, read boomers response in particular

[Habib]

Originally posted by wasp9166
yes more like a cream color, and its cloudy, not a real clear color like the nitrate or nitrite tests i did........but the closest i found on the card was .25....................

I press quote and the answer is suddenly different. You edited it in the meantime.

Yes it will get cloudy when testing seawater. That was my next question. You are sure that there is a yellow tinge in it?

If the test would go bad then the solution itself can get quite yellow but then the RO water should have given an ammonia value of 0.25 or higher. This is as I understand not the case (one of your previous posts).

I would like to suggest that you come over to the Salifert forum and give also the batch number which can be found on the reagent's label.

In the Salifert forum we can talk if it is a test kit issue or not.

Does that sound OK?

[wasp9166]

on my way

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Getting an ammonia reading in fresh salt water is normal. If your tank has been set up for a month and is not getting large water changes, it ought to not be showing ammonia if it has fully cycled and the kit is working properly, IMO.

[wasp9166]

mmmmmm, well i was thinking of trying another brand, habib didnt really say too much except that its normal, if the result is the same with my tank as with a fresh mix it seems to me the test kit is useless for this application, whats the next best thing other than salifert? really not sure what else to do

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

There are a variety of suitable ammonia kits, such as LaMotte and possibly Red Sea.

[bertoni]

I had bad luck with a Red Sea ammonia test kit. FasTest worked pretty well for me, though.

[Habib]

habib didnt really say too much except that its normal,

I didn't say that it is normal.

By the time you posted this it was 2 am my time.

Later that day I posted:

Let the archieved samples from that same batch be tested again on seawater.

This has now been done and the samples we have kept behind work OK.

You tested on RO water and the result was zero.

I wonder what might cause a 0.25 ppm reading if there would not be ammonia in the water.

You could also try testing it on the newly made salt water but after aerating it for 2 or 3 days.

[wasp9166]

Originally posted by Habib


Yes it will get cloudy when testing seawater

im really not sure how im supposed to determine my reading if this is the case, the <.25 square on the card is the same color as the card , white, if i put a cloudy liquid in front of it im going to get some kind of reading other than the color of the card, no?

im not going to dispute that your test kit is faulty, i have read enuff on these forums to know that salifert makes great kits , however , i have to say that if its going to be cloudy everytime i test then it makes it difficult for me to read the results, im going to try another kit and see what happens...thanx for your help