Amonia test kits not working?

[westward13]

I've had my aquarium up and running now for a month. Within that first month, I've certainly had my share of problems... from Ich to a bacterial infection that required frequent and large water changes. I started with 12 fish (3 Opaline Gouramis, 3 Tiger Barbs, 3 Giant Danios and 3 Red Velvet Swordtails) and have 9 left (all 3 Tiger Barbs are no more). For those of you that weren't around when I first started posting, I've got a 75 gallon freshwater tank with playsand as my substrate.

Fast forward to today... I'm slightly alarmed by the fact that my nitrites came out to be very high when I tested the water this morning even though I have yet to show a single trace of any amonia in the tank. Are my amonia and nitrate test kits even working properly?! It's supposed to show up as a shade of yellow if it's at 0 and since day 1 it's always come out entirely clear (using the normal hydrochloric acid drops included in my test kit). I plan on bringing a sample of my water to the lfs that I got my fish at just to have them test it but I'm confused as to why this has been the case.

 

[flipz]

If it's showing up clear I would say for sure something is wrong with your test kit. Like you are missing a bottle, or something isn't being put in right. Even if it was reading wrong you should get some color out of it. So something has to be totally messed up.

-brent

 

[jaysono]

My Ammonia test has two different regeants. The first one is clear, and only changes color when the second one is added.

 

[flipz]

Yea jaysono, which is why I was wondering if maybe westward is missing a bottle, or just doing something wrong. *shrug* heh

 

[Menagerie]

If your ammonia test has only one reagent, as mine does, you may be getting false readings, depending on the other chemicals that are in your tank. To test your ammonia test, use straight ammonia (if you have any in the house) and see if it shows up on the color chart
Since the nitrites are on the rise, that means you have bacteria converting ammonia into nitrite. The ammonia may have spiked when you weren't watching
Take a water sample to the LFS and let us know what they say.

 

[westward13]

Ok, now I feel stupid.
When I've been doing the tests, I was only using 1 bottle for each of them (which is correct for the pH and Nitrite tests). I just figured they included 2 bottles for the Amonia and Nitrate tests for some unknown reason. After reading the instructions on testing the pH, I thought all of them would be the same... simply put the amount of drops that the bottle indicates into the test tube of water and out would come the results. Since both bottles for the Amonia and Nitrate require the same exact amount of drops each, I figured they were the same thing in each bottle. Wow... after reading the first couple of responses to my post last night, I went home and ran the first successful (and correct) tests. Here are the results:

Temp 82%
pH 7.2
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 2.0
Nitrate 10PPM

I plan on doing a 25% water change tomorrow and will soon lower the temp back down to about 76-78%. I left it higher to be entirely sure that the Ich was gone. How do those readings seem for a 4 week old tank? Is there anything I can do to get those Nitrites down to a more acceptable level other than the water change? 8 of my 9 fish are doing extremely well with the exception of the one Opaline Gourami that was the victim of a bacterial infection(which he recovered from) and has since been the victim of constantly being picked on by the other 2 Opaline Gouramis I have.

 

[Menagerie]

Your parameters look good for a 4 week old tank. Water changes are the only thing that will help now. Since your nitrates are going up, that means the bacteria are establishing. Don't clean your filter pads for at least a month--let the bacteria grow and grow. Water changes at this point should bring the ammonia and nitrites down to zero after a few days. Aim for 20-25% water changes every other day and let us know how it is going.

 

[westward13]

I was planning to change the secondary filter media from my Pengiun Biowheel to something else... thus far I've been using zeolite. Should I hold off on changing that as well?

 

[jaysono]

Sorry, I'm just trying to get the picture here....I have a Penguin Biowheel as well, and beside the filterpad with the carbon and the wheel itself I can't recall another media. Do you have something in the little space between the carbon filter pad and the back plastic. Mine has a one inch or so gap where the water flows...I suppose you can float or submerge something else in there.

Just wondering really.

 

[Menagerie]

I'm not sure what the zeolite is, but if bacteria are growing--leave it alone for now! With bio wheels, the bacteria not only grows on the wheel, but also the filter pad. With a tank this young, keep all surfaces for bacteria stable.

 

[tmurphy171]

I'm not sure what the zeolite is

Menagerie
Zeolite is an ammonia remover. With that in the tank its difficult to judge exactly what the ammonia reading are.

 

[westward13]

My Pengiun Biowheel is the 330. In addition to having the 2 biowheels and 2 carbon filter pads, it has 2 removable bins behind the carbon filter pads that you can fill with a secondary media of your choice. I used zeolite to start out with to keep the amonia spikes to a minimum while the tank was cycling. Should I still keep the zeolite in there until my amonia is down to 0?

 

[tmurphy171]

Are both baskets filled with zeolite? I did the same thing with one of my tanks when I started it. It was delaying the process, I then removed it on advice. My ammonia shot up for a week then came down to zero.

 

[westward13]

I have both baskets filled with the zeolite. I'm not sure of what I should do now... I don't want the cycle to be prolonged but I also don't want to eliminate any of the beneficial bacteria that I've got especially with the Nitrites being as high as they are. Hmm...

 

[tmurphy171]

I can only share what I did on one of my tanks which I started before finding this forum. I don't know what you should do at this point in the process. Based on your reading your cycle has started. If you remove the ammonia remover zeolite now, your ammonia and Nitrite levels will rise. My ammonia rose from 1ppm to over 5ppm when I pulled the white diamond out of the media basket (and I only put it in one) and managed the levels with 50% water changes daily *sometimes twice a day for a week or so.

If you wait till the tank stabilizes and then remove it, your ammonia and Nitrite levels will rise until the bio filter can catch up. Maybe someone who has done a full cycle with ammonia remover in the filter can tell you to what extent it rose and how long it took to zero out again. The more input the better desision you'll make.

If you want to grow an extra bio filter in the media baskets use bio-media such as ceramic rings or matrix or a filter sponge. Your bio-wheels are the primary area for the bio-filter a secondary area doesn't hurt.

You said you have a 75g tank, its the 330 the only filter?

 

[westward13]

No, I've also got a Fluval 304 as well.

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Menagerie]

EW, I didn't know extra chemicals were involved.
What have you got for media in the fluval? I would pull the zeolite--it sounds like you have plenty of substrate for bacteria to grow on. Monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels daily and be prepared to do water changes.