First Ammonia Dose/API testing

[Fishy123]

I finally put my first dose of ammonia in my tank to start up the cycle process! That means I also started using the API test kit. I must admit, it is kind of confusing to read the results. The colors are all so close.

I used one of the articles on this site as a guide and dosed the ammonia. The article said to wait about 20 minutes then test, so I did. I really couldn't determine the results. So I let it sit a while while I tried to figure out what to do. After about an hour I tested again, and it came up way darker than the first time. So how long should you wait to get accurate results? I think I am at about 4ppm.

So if I understand this, I should check ammonia everyday and wait for it to drop? once it drops way down, dose it back up again? And just keep doing that?

 

[carey]

That's correct. 4ppm is a good place to start with the ammonia.

It will drop then just keep dosing it back up. Every morning is a good time to test.

 

[eco23]

It really depends on the type of filter you have and how many gallons per hour (gph) it takes to circulate all the water in the tank. I recommended waiting 20 minutes because that should be enough time to disperse the ammo through the tank to get a good idea of the level. If you test too soon after adding it, the ammo will be circulating in pockets and you may get different results in different areas of the tank.

 

[eco23]

If you don't want to drive yourself crazy testing...you can just check the ammo every few days until you see a drop in the level. When that occurs, dose it back up to the 4ppm. Don't worry about testing for nitrItes until the tank starts eating the ammo at a fairly significant level. Then once the nitrItes start rising noticeably, go ahead and start checking for nitrAtes. And yeah, keep dosing the ammo back up to 4ppm every 24 hours once it starts to drop.

 

[Pantaz]

... I must admit, it is kind of confusing to read the results. The colors are all so close. ...

I have the same problem. I started the thread, http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/interpreting-test-kit-results-149309.html to get help with my test results. (I posted photos of the test-tubes next to the color chart.)