Can you guys help me determine how much ammonia (ppm) is in my tank? (Pics)

[firteen888]

Hey all,

so it's been over a month and I have seen NO change in my ammonia levels (and no nitrites/nitrates) I have even had an established seeded sponge in my filter for the past week and still no change. So I gave it some thought, and I'm thinking maybe I'm just not reading my ammonia levels correctly. at one angle it looks like 2ppm and at a different angle it looks like 8ppm. So I took some pics and hopefully you guys can let me know what you think.

Pic 1 - Ammonia appears to be at 2ppm. It's held at a bit of an angle from the card

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Pic 2 - Another view on an angle appears to be 2ppm

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Pic 3 - This one is held against the card and appears to be at 8ppm

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Pic 4 - Another view held against the card appears to be 8ppm

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As you can see, reading this thing can be really difficult. Can you guys take a look at let me know what you think my ammonia is at?

I appreciate the help!

 

[librarygirl]

Ugh I hear you. I started a whole post about how hard this test is to read lol I never received much concensus on which is right: to hold the tube up against the card or hover it over. They definitely give two different results. I stink at reading these tests too, so I doubt I'd be much help to interpret your results. The colors don't seem to match exactly which is another difficulty. To me your first two look like about 3 (in between 2 and 4). The third one looks like 4 and the fourth one looks like 8. Given the lightness of the green in the first pics, without shadow, I doubt your ammo is 8. I'd say between 2 and 4 would be my best guess, but I'm having trouble too so it's totally possible I'm reading the results all wrong too.

I'm in a similar situation as you too in regards to my cycle. Three weeks fishless, no nitrates, no nitrites and no drop in ammo. I got desperate and purchased a seeded filter online and installed it last saturday. After 20 hours I had a drop in ammo from 2 to 0.5 and finally nitrates started showing (but no nitrites, which makes no sense). Since then, no changes at all. So frustrating!

 

[Deckape]

Ugh I hear you. I started a whole post about how hard this test is to read lol I never received much concensus on which is right: to hold the tube up against the card or hover it over. They definitely give two different results. I stink at reading these tests too, so I doubt I'd be much help to interpret your results. The colors don't seem to match exactly which is another difficulty. To me your first two look like about 3 (in between 2 and 4). The third one looks like 4 and the fourth one looks like 8. Given the lightness of the green in the first pics, without shadow, I doubt your ammo is 8. I'd say between 2 and 4 would be my best guess, but I'm having trouble too so it's totally possible I'm reading the results all wrong too.

I'm in a similar situation as you too in regards to my cycle. Three weeks fishless, no nitrates, no nitrites and no drop in ammo. I got desperate and purchased a seeded filter online and installed it last saturday. After 20 hours I had a drop in ammo from 2 to 0.5 and finally nitrates started showing (but no nitrites, which makes no sense). Since then, no changes at all. So frustrating!

Hey if you're seeing nitrates and no nitrites all that means is you may be missing how fast they are being processed. That's a good thing. Ill be willing to bet next week this time, you'll gave no doubt what a yellow ammonia test looks like. Have y'all started thinking about fish yet?

 

[firteen888]

I haven't thought about fish yet. Really just trying to figure out this ammonia thing first.

 

[librarygirl]

Hey if you're seeing nitrates and no nitrites all that means is you may be missing how fast they are being processed. That's a good thing. Ill be willing to bet next week this time, you'll gave no doubt what a yellow ammonia test looks like. Have y'all started thinking about fish yet?

Yeah that's what I thought last week, but nope lol Ammonia stopped dropping after dropping once last Sunday and nitrates are staying at 5.

I've given some thought, I had planned to post about what I'm thinking of getting to see if it'll work for my tank (in the meantime I'm doing some research of my own on types of fish) but haven't started the post yet b/c I'm losing hope fast that I'll ever be able to get fish!

 

[firteen888]

Can anyone else give any thoughts on what you think my ammonia level is at?

 

[librarygirl]

I haven't thought about fish yet. Really just trying to figure out this ammonia thing first.

I hear you. I've had my tank set up for about 3 weeks with fish before they all died and now am going fishless another almost 4 weeks and I still can't read the blasted tests lol In case you can glean some insight that I may have missed, here's my post on reading the API tests

 

[Retired_AF]

It is definately difficult to tell. One thing I can tell is that it is WAY too high.
I usually prefer to avoid chemicals but I consulted someone I am confident in and he recommended using a product call Neutral Regulator. If you follow the directions it will adjust high or low pH to 7.0, remove any chlorine or chloramine and ammonia. You use 1 tsp for every 10 - 20 gallons of water once or twice a month or as necessary. An 8.8 oz bottle cost me less than $7. I have been following his advice and adding 1/4 tsp per day so the fish won't go into shock with the sudden pH change. You might want to give that a shot.

 

[firteen888]

Thanks retired_af. Does everyone else agree that my ammonia is too high? Should I do a PWC?

 

[Deckape]

Thanks retired_af. Does everyone else agree that my ammonia is too high? Should I do a PWC?

A pwc never is a bad idea.

 

[Retired_AF]

A pwc never is a bad idea.

Agreed....

 

[firteen888]

OK, I'll change the water once again. I decided I'm giving it until Wednesday, June 4. If there is still no change, which I'm sure there won't be, I'm putting fish in. I didn't spend all this money on nice equipment to stare at an empty tank for so long. I gave fishless cycling more than a fair chance but it simply doesn't work. Not for me at least.

 

[Coleallensmom]

Hey all,

so it's been over a month and I have seen NO change in my ammonia levels (and no nitrites/nitrates) I have even had an established seeded sponge in my filter for the past week and still no change. So I gave it some thought, and I'm thinking maybe I'm just not reading my ammonia levels correctly. at one angle it looks like 2ppm and at a different angle it looks like 8ppm. So I took some pics and hopefully you guys can let me know what you think.

As you can see, reading this thing can be really difficult. Can you guys take a look at let me know what you think my ammonia is at?

I appreciate the help!

I've always been told (and I believe the API instructions say the same) to hold the vial directly against the white card when testing to view accurately. The first pics to me look like 4ppm while the other pics look like 8ppm. If the view against the cards is 8ppm, then I would assume that 8ppm is your actual ammonia reading. Ammonia that high can actually stall your cycling progress, so I would recommend doing a PWC.

 

[Mrduna01]

I would say the thing to remember is that any measurable green, even a slight tint is too high. When it is yellow and shows no ammo, you will know it. Keep up with what your doing and all should be fine soon enough. With no fish don't even worry about water changes for a bit. If you do have fish do constant daily water changes.

 

[firteen888]

I've always been told (and I believe the API instructions say the same) to hold the vial directly agains the white card when testing to view accurately. The first pics to me look like 4ppm while the other pics look like 8ppm. If the view against the cards is 8ppm, then I would assume that 8ppm is your actual ammonia reading. Ammonia that high can actually stall your cycling progress, so I would recommend doing a PWC.

 

[firteen888]

I would say the thing to remember is that any measurable green, even a slight tint is too high. When it is yellow and shows no ammo, you will know it. Keep up with what your doing and all should be fine soon enough. With no fish don't even worry about water changes for a bit. If you do have fish do constant daily water changes.

Not when you're doing a fishless cycle. You're supposed to put in ammonia up to 4ppm to grow the bacteria.

 

[Coleallensmom]

Not when you're doing a fishless cycle. You're supposed to put in ammonia up to 4ppm to grow the bacteria.

YES, with the "up to 4ppm" being the key words. 8ppm ammonia is double that amount.

 

[firteen888]

YES, with the "up to 4ppm" being the key words. 8ppm ammonia is double that amount.

Yes agreed, I wasn't disagreeing with your assesment. I was banging my head because after over a month I have to start all over now. My comment was to Mr.Duna who said there shouldn't be ANY ammonia in the tank.

 

[Coleallensmom]

Yes agreed, I wasn't disagreeing with your assesment. I was banging my head because after over a month I have to start all over now. My comment was to Mr.Duna who said there shouldn't be ANY ammonia in the tank.

Sorry If I confused you... Agreeing with your comment!

If it were me, I'd do a small pwc just to bring that number down a little bit to play it safe and keep things from stalling out. you're not really "starting over"...most of your bacteria should be in your substrate and filter material so a small pwc won't hurt.

 

[firteen888]

OK cool, I'll do about a 50% change and hope things move along. Thanks for the help.