So my cycle is complete. I rejoiced and added some fish (12 neons and 1 BN pleco to start). I started to see some ammonia show up, which I expected a little spike after reading the forum since there are now fish in the tank and the load is higher, so at .5ppm I did a water change and treated with tetra safestart like always for chlorine. An hour after the water change I checked my levels and was alarmed to find my ammonia was now at 1ppm!!! I retested and even resorted to double checking with test strips and 1ppm it was. I tested my tap water and sure enough 1ppm right from the tap. I ran to the pet store and got some prime to make things safe for the fish, but the question is now what….
I know the prime will keep my fish safe, but I also know it will give me false ammonia readings when I test with the API kit. So how do I deal with this and is there a test that will give me actual ammonia readings so I can see if my fish are in danger without just blindly trusting the prime is doing its job.
I know the prime will keep my fish safe, but I also know it will give me false ammonia readings when I test with the API kit. So how do I deal with this and is there a test that will give me actual ammonia readings so I can see if my fish are in danger without just blindly trusting the prime is doing its job.