New tank ammonia

[blackandwhite]

Hi all

I have just put together my first tank and I started adding ammonia today. But I am very confused as to how much ammonia I need to actually put in. A couple hours after putting in 1.8 ml of ammonia in my 90 gallon tank, I tested the water with the AP test kit and had a reading of .25 ppm. So I went ahead and added 7 more ml of ammonia. Tested again in a couple hours and my levels read as .5 ppm.

This seemed suspicious to me, so I tested the test kit and put 1 ml of ammonia in a test tube with 4 ml of water and when I added the drops from both number one and number two test bottles, and let it sit for ten minutes the color was barely dark enough to qualify as a 1 ppm. Logically it would seem to me that a 1/5 ratio of ammonia should result in a super dark green reading of 8 ppm of ammonia, but that did not happen.

Am I doing something terribly wrong or is my test kit faulty? I'd appreciate any advice.

 

[Bill22]

I'm thinking 1 ml of ammonia in 4 ml of water would blow the test off the map when talking parts per million. 20% versus 8 ppm is way out of scale. I would guess the kit doesn't even test anywhere near that high. It would be like putting 20+ gallons of ammonia in your 90 gal tank.

 

[blackandwhite]

I'm thinking 1 ml of ammonia in 4 ml of water would blow the test off the map when talking parts per million. 20% versus 8 ppm is way out of scale. I would guess the kit doesn't even test anywhere near that high. It would be like putting 20+ gallons of ammonia in your 90 gal tank.

Yes I realize that. Which is why I did it. Because I wanted to see the test max out and put out an 8 ppm result. But if didn't. It barely showed a 1 ppm color. So I'm wondering if the test is showing similar wrong results for the tank water. And why?

 

[Bill22]

Well I must admit to having trouble with test tube colour comparisons myself but that doesn't make much sense. I don't know this but the kit may not be capable of testing that high. Or perhaps your first test confirms the second and ammonia is very high (??).

The only way I know to suggest is have your water tested by another source to see if you get the same results.

Maybe others might have a better suggestion.

 

[blackandwhite]

Well I must admit to having trouble with test tube colour comparisons myself but that doesn't make much sense. I don't know this but the kit may not be capable of testing that high. Or perhaps your first test confirms the second and ammonia is very high (??).



The only way I know to suggest is have your water tested by another source to see if you get the same results.



Maybe others might have a better suggestion.

Thanks. Yes, I'm considering taking my water to my local fish store for a test.

To make things more puzzling, I just tested the water from my aquarium and straight up tap water at the same time. The colors were identical! I know for a fact tat the aquarium water had plenty of ammonia in it and the tap water doesn't. At this point I'm pretty certain there's something wrong with the kit. I don't know what though.

 

[Bill22]

Sounds like the kit is a dud, mate!

 

[mbooker]

I've never been able to get my API test kit to show very high concentrations of ammonia on the test results either, I don't believe the test is really capable of showing results as high as you would get from adding straight ammonia to the test tube.

As for the amount of ammonia to add to your aquarium that would depend on your concentration. With a weaker concentration I had to add up to 15ml of ammonia to my 36 gallon tank to get test results around 2-3 ppm.

It's possible the 1ml you initially added was enough to get a slight color change to indicate 0.25 ppm, but the concentration was not actually that high.

I would still go to a local store or somewhere to else to confirm your results, but they don't sound too unreasonable to me.

 

[Davon]

I put 10ml of ammonia in my 65gal tank and got exactly 4ppm. I'll admit I work in a pharma plant with a full chemistry lab full of awesome chemists at my disposal so they calculated the ratio for me lol. That being said, if you'd like me to get them to calculate the amount for 4ppm in your 90gal tank I can.

 

[Bill22]

That is very nice of you to offer. I hope you are not bombarded with requests.

 

[Davon]

I'll get the calculation and post it. From what I remember it was pretty simple.

 

[blackandwhite]

I put 10ml of ammonia in my 65gal tank and got exactly 4ppm. I'll admit I work in a pharma plant with a full chemistry lab full of awesome chemists at my disposal so they calculated the ratio for me lol. That being said, if you'd like me to get them to calculate the amount for 4ppm in your 90gal tank I can.

Wow that is such a generous offer. I really appreciate that. Yes please. I tried calculating something but couldn't figure it out. I can't wait to hear back from you.

 

[Davon]

No problem. I'll be headed to work soon so I'll go to the lab first thing.

 

[Davon]

Ok so they were busy today troubleshooting a problem but the chemist I talked to swore he'd help me tomorrow lol

 

[Davon]

Scratch that, he texted me with a spreadsheet. I'm going to code the variables with letters to make it easier. Here is the formula:

A = Percent Solution of Ammonia
B = Total gallons of water
C = Final Concentration of Ammonia Required (ppm)
D = Amount of Ammonia to Add (mL)

((C*(B*3.78541))/A)/1000 = D

So for your 90 gallon tank you would need 13.63ml of 10% ammonia to dose it to 4ppm.
(My janitorial strength ammonia is 10%)

Hope that helps!!! Let me know if you have questions. If you private message me your email, I will send you the spreadsheet.

 

[Davon]

I think I'll post this on the main forum too for anyone who needs it.

 

[blackandwhite]

I think I'll post this on the main forum too for anyone who needs it.

I want to thank you again on behalf of all my future fish and my four year old who can't understand why we're not putting all the fishes in already. Hopefully we'll be able cycle quickly and get us some fish.

 

[Davon]

Lol good luck! I've been cycling my 65gal for two months and it FINALLY cycled. My 10 and 12 year old are both excited to put fish in this weekend.