I did a test on Dennis' water and thought nitrites were a little high. My normal 20% water changes help, but eventually it's not enough and I do a 50% change to bring things down within tolerances. Anyway, as part of doing that, I tested ammonia. I'm expecting to see ammonia drop to zero at some point soon, so I keep testing and hoping.

Here's a picture of the results for reference.



I ran my test before the change and saw ammonia looked to be at 0.25 ppm (third from left). Just slightly chartreuse. So after the change of 50% of the volume I ran it again, expecting to see it much less green. I got the fourth one over, which the picture may not show very well but in actuality it was exactly the same shade of chartreuse.

So I thought, maybe my tap has ammonia in it and 0.25 is the best it will ever be. So I tested the tap and got the result on the left, pure yellow: no ammonia. So then I thought maybe the water co. lied to me and there were chloramines in the water and my dechlorinizing was releasing ammonia, so I dechlorinized some of the tap water and tested it (second from left) and got the same no ammonia result.

No my question is, how can 0.25 ppm ÷ 2 = 0.25 ppm? It's been a while since I was in school, but to my knowledge that's not how math works. My only thought is perhaps ANY ammonia at all will make it show up as a minimum amount of green, so 0.0001 ppm and 0.25 ppm will show up the same color of chartreuse. Anyone know for sure?

Hi,

I'd say it is the sensitivity/accuracy of the tests. (It can't display 0.1ppm)

Just by looking at the colour chart, it can't clearly give an indication of a difference of 0.1ppm.

Slugger

I think Slugger is spot on. Remember, you are diluting the amount of ammonia in the water. If it was at .25ppm, a 50% water change only takes it to .125 ppm. Your test is simply not that accurate. If it "senses" ammonia in the water, it registers it. If it senses more ammonia in the water, it registers it higher on the scale, etc.

You have something more than zero, but less than or equal to approximately .25% ammonia in the tank.

With ammonia that low before a water change, I think you are almost done with the first half of the cycle. If your nitrites are spiking,you are well into the second half and should be done. It will come - and it will come quickly when it does. It will be such a relief and a pleasant suprise!

Yes, my ammonia has been that color (i.e. about or less than 0.25 ppm) for a while now, at least a week or so. And my nitrites are always climbing. It will be up to 2 ppm, I'll do a 50% water change, drop it to 1 ppm, then the next day they're back at 2 ppm or more. My nitrates are climbing, but slowly. I'm hoping to get the cycle done, then see how it affects Dennis. Poor guy, his tail looks as bad as it did a week ago (no worse, no better), and he rarely swims, he finds a spot out of the way behind a log and sits most of the day. I wish that wound would heal, it's sad the way he is now.

I'm sorry.

Well, hopefully it will be done cycling soon. My ammonia in my larger tank has always read 0.1 or so, even after 100 percent changes, maybe it's my tap water...