Very odd readings with API Master Kit

[nikkik0720]

So my API Master Test kit came in the mail today. I was super excited and have been waiting for it. I rinsed the tubes out really well with super hot water (no soap because I didn't want it to leave any residue). After letting them air dry for about an hour, I filled them with water from my 15 gallon tank. I just got the tank a few days ago, but it was from someone who already had it up and running and cycled. They had had it for several years. It came with the water (which they tested with an API master kit for me when I got it) and the pH was 7.0, ammonia 0ppm, nitrite was 0ppm, nitrate was between 0-10ppm. So everything was pretty much perfect.
I have done nothing different to the tank (not even water changes yet). The ONLY thing I did was add some sand from my pre-existing tank, a plant, and driftwood all also from my pre-existing tank.
So when I tested the water today I was shocked. The pH reads 7.4 on the general pH and 7.6 on the High end pH. Ammonia reads 8ppm, Nitrite read 5ppm, and Nitrate was between 10-20ppm. The fish in the tank are fine. They're active, swimming fine; eat eagerly when fed (which is only a tiny bit 2 times a day. There's never any food left after 2 minutes.) Their gills are normal, they aren't flashing or gasping at the top. The temperature of the tank is 82 degrees.

I looked online, and everywhere says that if the ammonia was truly at 8ppm, the fish would be dead/dying. I'm going to get my water tested tomorrow morning at Petco and will compare the results to see if mine are right (which I highly doubt.) I don't want to do anything to the tank before I find out for sure what's going on.
I also read that several people have had problems with ordering test kits online, especially in the winter. They say that since the tests can come from warehouses and sit in shipping, that sometimes the tests are actually no good anymore because they were exposed to extreme temperatures. I'm almost beginning to think this may be the case.

The one thing I read, a guy had his tank cycling for over a month and the readings were all perfect with test strips. He bought an API master kit online, and when he tested his water, he got insane readings. After messing with it for over a week, the results weren't changing. So he took his water to a LFS and had it tested and it was fine. He bought a cheap kit at the store and when he tested it at home it was still fine.

Is it possible that I have a 'bad kit' and that's why my readings are so odd?
What could cause the ammonia to read so high? I haven't used any chemicals in the tank, only a little bit of salt (which the people I got it from told me to do to help with stress).

 

[Delapool]

I'd test your tap water as a baseline check. Usually (although not always), it will have lower readings. At least it should be different anyways.

Are you making sure you follow the directions exactly?

 

[nikkik0720]

I followed the directions perfectly. I tested it three times and got different readings for ammonia each time. The first was 8ppm, second was even darker than 8ppm, and the third was like 3ppm. So it's not even a consistent reading... I'm taking the kit, and water samples to Petco to have them check (even though the use strips) and see what their readings say. I'm beyond confused. My tank has a yellowish tint to it, but I blame that on the driftwood since it did it a little in my other tank. I added an airstone to help circulate, and (despite being told not to) I rinsed my filter (I used water from the other main 29 gallon to rinse it). The filter was disgusting and took several times rinsing it to get it 'clean'. I don't want to just replace the cartridge, because I know the new cartridges are sterile and can really mess up a tank. I can't even run the cartridge through a different filter in an established tank because all the other filter brands are Tetra Whisper, and this is an Aqueon. I thought about buying a larger filter for the tank, but the tank has 2 angels in it and I know they don't like the currents (or so I've read). The current filter is for tanks 10-20 gallons.

I just really don't know what to do other than have it tested elsewhere and see the results. Like I said before, the fish are acting normal and happy (I actually witnessed some pre-spawn behavior and they were cleaning the piece of shale rock together) I have 3 spotted cories in the tank also and they're perfectly fine as well.

 

[absolutangel04]

You are right to be skeptical about an 8ppm ammonia reading. My 2 bits of advice would be to have somebody else run the test without help (just on the off chance you did something wrong, even though you probably didn't) and then if they still get wonky results, I agree that using a different test kit to check the water would be a good idea. Fish would likely react at 8 ppm ammonia, though, you might be surprised.
Also, try running a test on your sink water and see what happens. It sounds like the ammonia one is the only test in question, since the other 2 have pretty normal sounding readings.
Also, why do you have 2 angels in a 15g tank? I hope they are some of your young ones waiting to grow.

 

[nikkik0720]

No. They're a pair of breeding angels. I've talked to a local breeder who has been breeding for 40+ years and he said since the tank is a 15 gallon column that it is actually good for a breeding tank. As long as I do weekly water changes and everything they will be okay. He's used 10 gallons and has had great results.

I took my water to Petco and they tested it. The ammonia is between .5 ppm an 3ppm with the test strips. The nitrates were between 0-20ppm and the nitrites were between 1 and 3 ppm. I don't remember what the other readings were. I got some of the test strips and returned the master kit. The strips actually test more than the master kit did.
I did a 20% water change, and added water clarifier (since I know our water has a decent amount of chlorine) and added half a bottle of tetra safe start plus (the whole bottle treats 20 gallons). The aquatic specialist at Petco said this should definitely help.

 

[Delapool]

When you say the test strips test more, do you mean they test higher or test more compounds?

I've had ~4ppm ammonia in tank on a mini-cycle and never picked it until I tested. I was dosing with API ammo lock though and my water is a little high in salt naturally (which protects fish against nitrite). After that, (lol) - lots of water changes.

I'd still do a base line test on your tap water. I find this is very useful to check once over winter and summer.

 

[Mr Fisher]

My api kit started reading the same 8ppm+ after several months on the same tank which tested 0ppm with a friends api test kit.

 

[ppo8820]

That is odd. It would be one thing to have 3 constant ammonia readings of 8ppm, but not the wide swing each time. To be on the safe side, id do a water change and dose with Prime water conditioner so if there is indeed ammonia, it wont hurt the fish until you can be 100% sure. Then test it tomorrow at petco or wherever. That sucks, especially since you were so excited about it. Fish keeping can be so stressful sometimes.

 

[nikkik0720]

When you say the test strips test more, do you mean they test higher or test more compounds?

The strips test more compounds. They're Tetra's brand. They test 6 things, nitrIte, nitrAte, chlorine, pH, alkalinity, and I can't remember the 6th thing.
They sell ammonia test strips separately, so I got those too. After doing my water change the ammonia was still at 1-3ppm, so I'm going to buy some Prime as soon as I can get back to the store (my gram's in the hospital, and my 2 nieces are really sick as well as my brother and sister-in-law, so it's really hectic right now).

I made sure I treated the tap water with Aqueon Water Clarifier (actually put a little more than I should have on accident) and I used half a bottle of Tetra Safe Start plus (the whole thing treats 20 gallons) to help give a bacteria boost. I also gave my floating moss ball a few nice squeezes to help release some stuff and my marimo moss balls were squeezed out some in the tank (made the water a little cloudy at first, but its clearing now).

I was going to scrub off my driftwood (it has a little bit of fuzzy looking stuff on it) but when I asked the specialist at petco she said not to.

I think I'm going to test once more tonight before lights out to see if there's any difference in the levels from earlier (even though I'm sure that it takes time for the levels to show any results)

 

[Delapool]

Good luck!

It took a week or so here for ammonia to go and then another week to get rid of the following nitrite spike.

 

[nikkik0720]

The readings this morning are the same. I'm going to do a 25% change today to see what that does.

 

[RackinRocky]

Good. The yellowing was caused by the wood, and will go away by itself in time. Mine was gone in a few days, but I only have one piece of wood. Sometimes fish won't show problems from high ammonia until later on. It will definitely do some damage in the long run, so don't be surprised if you start losing some fish. Just saying... be prepared. I'd do more like a 50% water change, test the next day, and if needed, do another 50% change. You HAVE to get the ammonia and/or nitrites down!

 

[trennamw]

If the test strips said it may be as high as 3ppm, it could be that the API test is notoriously hard to read at ammonia levels that high. The difference between 4 and 8 is not much on the color chart.

My suspicion is you're close to 4 and it looks like 8.

You can do a dilute test to help you learn which color is which on the API test ... Get some distilled water and a clean glass/etc. Put 5ml of tank water in the container, add 45ml distilled water. Use the test tubes or a pipette to measure both waters for accuracy (ie 1 test tube of tank water to 9 of distilled).

Then use that diluted tank water for your tests, but multiply the results by 10. This works well because it's easier to see the lower ranges on the tests.


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