Ammonia Reading 8ppm Not Going Down

I have a 30 gallon that I have had about two months now. I have 4 tetras, a rainbow shark and a few ghost shrimp. I have consistantly been getting a reading of 8 for ammonia since I got the tank. I have tried ammonia lock and I have done water changes every few days. I even tried a 75% water change several weeks ago and still the reading has been 8. As of today, my parameters are :
ph 7.6
Ammonia 8
nitrates 5
Nitrites 0
I use the API master test kit. Any suggestions on getting my ammonia down? All on fish are acting and eating great. Maybe it's a false reading?

 

You can't just do a 75% every week, you've got to be consistant and do 20-30 per day until it gets managable.

Prime can be used to detoxify (I think) 1ppm of ammonia and other chemicals, but that level is extremely dangerous and I'm surprised you haven't lost fish to poisoning.

False reading is a possibility with the other chemicals not being higher as well. Usually you'll have nitrites start to spike eith ammonia that high.
Try a test strip if you have any, or if your lfs does tests ask them to do one, as unreliable as they are, it will let you know without you paying for a new test kit.

 

You can't just do a 75% every week, you've got to be consistant and do 20-30 per day until it gets managable.

Prime can be used to detoxify (I think) 1ppm of ammonia and other chemicals, but that level is extremely dangerous and I'm surprised you haven't lost fish to poisoning.

I only did a 75% water change once as recommended by my local fish store. Following that, it has been about 20% water change every other day. Even with consistant water changes, it's still reading 8. I have read that the test kit's will pick up ammonia and ammonium. Maybe it's reading high due to ammonium since all my fish have been healthy and eating well.

 

Have you tested your water source before adding it?
If your water source has less ammonia than your tank and you're doing a water change, a change should show lower numbers no matter what, unless your kit is contaiminated or somehow expired.

 

Have you tested your water source before adding it?
If your water source has less ammonia than your tank and you're doing a water change, a change should show lower numbers no matter what, unless your kit is contaiminated or somehow expired.

I have tested my water source and it reads zero. I was expecting a change in ammonia readings with a water change. I think I'll have my local shop test my water also to compare.

 

Are you certain you are doing the test correctly? If your fish have been acting fine and nothing is changing the levels, then there may be an error. Ammonia that high would be extremely toxic to fish.

 

I have tested my water source and it reads zero. I was expecting a change in ammonia readings with a water change. I think I'll have my local shop test my water also to compare.

Honestly I would say, if you test your water before and it says 8, and you test it after a decent change, getting the water from the bottom up and all the waste and everything, then there's got to be something wrong with the test.

My tests always differ slightly after even a small water change.

Hopefully the sales test says it isn't that bad!
I would be confused it if truly was.

Are you certain you are doing the test correctly? If your fish have been acting fine and nothing is changing the levels, then there may be an error. Ammonia that high would be extremely toxic to fish.

I thought that too, but it's not like the nitrate test or anything, you just mix bottle one and two in the 5ml and shake, not too difficult to mess up unless you're missing a bottle.

 

Honestly I would say, if you test your water before and it says 8, and you test it after a decent change, getting the water from the bottom up and all the waste and everything, then there's got to be something wrong with the test.

My tests always differ slightly after even a small water change.

Hopefully the sales test says it isn't that bad!
I would be confused it if truly was.

I would be confused also. Thanks for your advice! I will have someone else test my water in the morning. Thanks again!

 

I would be confused also. Thanks for your advice! I will have someone else test my water in the morning. Thanks again!

Did you mix bottle one in completely before adding the second bottle? Have you checked the dates on the test kit?

 

If having someone else do the test doesn't work out, it could mean that your tank has more than 8ppm ammonia. API's ammonia tests up to 8ppm but it will still look relatively green above 8ppm (see this post).

Assuming your test kit isn't bad and your tap water has 0ppm ammonia, you can do a serial dilution:

Take a container and make a mix of 50% tank water and 50% of your tap water.
Take a second container and make a mix of 50% of the first mix and 50% of your tap water.

Now test tank water, first mix, second mix, and tap water at the same time. Results should be:

Tank water: Tank water ammonia ppm
Mix #1: 1/2 of the ppm ammonia in your tank
Mix #2: 1/4 of the ppm ammonia in your tank
Tap: should be 0ppm

 

As mentioned in the above post do that to test your kits readings, I would have thought that 8ppm of ammonia for over 2 weeks would have yielded a lot of casualties, especially since tetras aren’t the most hardy of things.

My tank has nitrite at 4ppm (currently in the process of fixing it) and my Platties are doing fine - It is most likely a case of it picking up ammonium seeing as your getting nitrates meaning that your tank has cycled.