Dodgy test kit?

[spamvicious]

Is it possible for test kits to give wrong results?. I started my tank two weeks ago with atm colony and two small clown fish. From the third day I was having high reading of ammonia. This continued with no signs of nitrites or nitrates.

On the 8th day I added more atm colony as the ammonia was still the same and no signs of converting. I did a partial water change of 30% as obviously worried about the fish.

Yesterday I added some turbo fritz as I was advised that atm colony doesn’t work on fish in cycles. Today the ammonia is the same level.

However the fish seem absolutely fine and have never shown any signs of distress. I also have a seachem alert badge which has never shown any alerts.

I’ve been using the Red Sea marine care kit. So it’s now been two weeks of ammonia and no nitrites or nitrates (I haven’t tested nitrates everyday).

13.5 gallon evo with aquaroche as well as biospec max balls and Fluval bio media in the sump compartments.

 

[TehBrainz]

Absolutely they can have erroneous results

Either from human error in performing the test (most likely cause), bad reagents, or bad equipment (e.g. test kits that use digital readers)

 

[TehBrainz]

Not to say you're at fault either! That's just the most likely point for failure.

I've received bad reagents quite often from hanna for nitrate as well.

 

[spamvicious]

Not to say you're at fault either! That's just the most likely point for failure.

I've received bad reagents quite often from hanna for nitrate as well.

I’m pretty meticulous when doing the tests but of course it’s it still possible.

 

[Uncle99]

For sure!
Worst IMM is ammonia and phosphate the colour change is very very hard to see.

Although Hanna phosphate tester helps a lot.

 

[TX_REEF]

red sea test kits are known to be reliable when used properly. I'm not familiar with the "atm colony" product. Adding some mature bio-media from a trusted system or some real ocean live rock will certainly help move things along.

 

[TehBrainz]

I’m pretty meticulous when doing the tests but of course it’s it still possible.

Not seeing any difference over time with repeated testing is also strange. Usually retesting and following meticulously is enough to catch a process error

What sort of levels are you seeing? Absolutely 0 nitrate? Are the kits close to expiry by chance?

 

[spamvicious]

red sea test kits are known to be reliable when used properly. I'm not familiar with the "atm colony" product. Adding some mature bio-media from a trusted system or some real ocean live rock will certainly help move things along.

Colony

Blue Shark Colony filters toxic ammonia naturally and rapidly, making it the number one cycling product product in aquaria.

bluesharkjourney.com

 

[spamvicious]

Not seeing any difference over time with repeated testing is also strange. Usually retesting and following meticulously is enough to catch a process error

What sort of levels are you seeing? Absolutely 0 nitrate? Are the kits close to expiry by chance?

 

[spamvicious]

Nitrate

 

[spamvicious]

Bought an ammonia test from salifert today and these were the results:

 

[Dan_P]

Is it possible for test kits to give wrong results?. I started my tank two weeks ago with atm colony and two small clown fish. From the third day I was having high reading of ammonia. This continued with no signs of nitrites or nitrates.

On the 8th day I added more atm colony as the ammonia was still the same and no signs of converting. I did a partial water change of 30% as obviously worried about the fish.

Yesterday I added some turbo fritz as I was advised that atm colony doesn’t work on fish in cycles. Today the ammonia is the same level.

However the fish seem absolutely fine and have never shown any signs of distress. I also have a seachem alert badge which has never shown any alerts.

I’ve been using the Red Sea marine care kit. So it’s now been two weeks of ammonia and no nitrites or nitrates (I haven’t tested nitrates everyday).

13.5 gallon evo with aquaroche as well as biospec max balls and Fluval bio media in the sump compartments.

What is the ammonia reading? If it is greater than 0.25 ppm, take it seriously.

If you don’t add nitrifying bacteria, weeks can go by before ammonia stops accumulating. The fish may still become sick from the long, low level exposure to a mmonia.

 

[spamvicious]

What is the ammonia reading? If it is greater than 0.25 ppm, take it seriously.

If you don’t add nitrifying bacteria, weeks can go by before ammonia stops accumulating. The fish may still become sick from the long, low level exposure to a mmonia.

I’ve added three lots of nitrifying bacteria over the two weeks as I kept getting readings of ammonia. The Red Sea was this today then I bought a salifert test to check it as above which is saying between 0.15 and 0.25

 

[Dan_P]

I’ve added three lots of nitrifying bacteria over the two weeks as I kept getting readings of ammonia. The Red Sea was this today then I bought a salifert test to check it as above which is saying between 0.15 and 0.25

This is frustrating!

The Red Sea kit which uses the salicylate method does not typically fail with a reading this high. I would tend to think it’s correct. I have read reports on this site that the Salifert method seems to read low.

One way out is to check for nitrite. If ammonia is being consumed nitrite should be present. If you don’5 have nitrite test kit, you could use a nitrate kit. It will detect both nitrite and nitrate. It won’t be any good for getting us a number but if it shows nothing, then it is likely the ammonia is not being consumed. My assumption is that nitrate is not being consumed in such a new system that is not using live rock.

Let me know this makes no sense

 

[spamvicious]

This is frustrating!

The Red Sea kit which uses the salicylate method does not typically fail with a reading this high. I would tend to think it’s correct. I have read reports on this site that the Salifert method seems to read low.

One way out is to check for nitrite. If ammonia is being consumed nitrite should be present. If you don’5 have nitrite test kit, you could use a nitrate kit. It will detect both nitrite and nitrate. It won’t be any good for getting us a number but if it shows nothing, then it is likely the ammonia is not being consumed. My assumption is that nitrate is not being consumed in such a new system that is not using live rock.

Let me know this makes no sense

I’ll test for nitrite and nitrate tomorrow. It’s all very strange. I have a lot of bio media in the back of the tank as well as the rock in the main part. I’ve added 2 bottle of atm colony and a bottle of turbo fritz. So I don’t see how after 2 weeks I’d still be having this problem with ammonia. I also have a monitor which has never showed any issues.

If the ammonia was as high as the Red Sea kit than surely the fish would have died?. I know it’s total ammonia that’s being read and not free ammonia.

 

[Dan_P]

I’ll test for nitrite and nitrate tomorrow. It’s all very strange. I have a lot of bio media in the back of the tank as well as the rock in the main part. I’ve added 2 bottle of atm colony and a bottle of turbo fritz. So I don’t see how after 2 weeks I’d still be having this problem with ammonia. I also have a monitor which has never showed any issues.

If the ammonia was as high as the Red Sea kit than surely the fish would have died?. I know it’s total ammonia that’s being read and not free ammonia.

I assume your rock is not live.

The ammonia badge seems to be detecting free ammonia but not much. Depending on the system’s pH this low reading could correspond to maybe 0.5 - 1.0 ppm total ammonia. Hard to say. That color is not really in between the chart colors. Looking forwards to the nitrite test results.

I am not familiar with atm colony. Fritz Turbo Start is a good product when fresh. Should only takes days to see ammonia drop.

 

[spamvicious]

I assume your rock is not live.

The ammonia badge seems to be detecting free ammonia but not much. Depending on the system’s pH this low reading could correspond to maybe 0.5 - 1.0 ppm total ammonia. Hard to say. That color is not really in between the chart colors. Looking forwards to the nitrite test results.

I am not familiar with atm colony. Fritz Turbo Start is a good product when fresh. Should only takes days to see ammonia drop.

Atm colony is another nitrifying bacteria. I added the first bottle 8th June when I tried to start the cycle, then another bottle on the 14th as nothing was happening. Then added the turbo fritz on Wednesday of this week.

Yes the rock wasn’t live, it’s aquaroche. That’s why I was adding all the nitrifying bacteria. My friend recommended atm colony and has never had any issues and he breeds clown fish so I followed his advice.

 

[Dan_P]

Atm colony is another nitrifying bacteria. I added the first bottle 8th June when I tried to start the cycle, then another bottle on the 14th as nothing was happening. Then added the turbo fritz on Wednesday of this week.

Yes the rock wasn’t live, it’s aquaroche. That’s why I was adding all the nitrifying bacteria. My friend recommended atm colony and has never had any issues and he breeds clown fish so I followed his advice.

Does your friend think about the ammonia level?

 

[spamvicious]

Finally got something on the nitrites.

 

[Dan_P]

Finally got something on the nitrites.

Good sign. Ammonia is being processed.

We are still left with conflicting ammonia results. Have you tested new saltwater with the Red Sea test? New saltwater can have a couple tenths ppm ammonia but never the 1-2 ppm you get from testing aquarium water. If you have the energy, validate that the Red Sea kit is working by testing new saltwater. It should give a yellow to pale green color.