Is zero ammonia even possible??

[jaysurf7]

Hi all, i just did a water test on my tank and the ammonia read .25 again even after a water change yesterday, it always seems to be like a .25. I don't think it ever read .0 even if it was a little lower then .25 Most tanks probably stay at .25 which is very low and as far as i known doesn't seem to affect any fish, but how can one get a completely zero ammonia? If i stand corrected as long as there are fish in the tank there will always be some level of ammonia so, how can one achieve zero ammonia? Because people always say there shouldn't be any ammonia present in a tank but i don't know how that could be possible if there are fish in the tank and an ongoing cycle. Does anybody els tank read completely zero every time you test or even at times?

 

[GouramiGirl100]

I do a chemical reagent test from API and my tank is now sitting at 0ppm. It was consistently between 0-0.25 ppm for a while because my filter was not working correctly (whoops) after I fixed that it stays at 0. Either way, never affected my fish in an overt way.

 

[Perfect]

I assume there should at least a bit of Ammonia but usually it is so miniscule that it is sometimes undetectable thus can be assumed as 0. It could be that the Nitrifiers in your tank ( might be suffering a little or there is something dead in your tank.
Is this a new tank?

 

[GouramiGirl100]

How many plants do you have and how long has the tank been set up? But yea, some amount of ammonia will be there but it may read as 0ppm.

 

[Dunk2]

Hi all, i just did a water test on my tank and the ammonia read .25 again even after a water change yesterday, it always seems to be like a .25. I don't think it ever read .0 even if it was a little lower then .25 Most tanks probably stay at .25 which is very low and as far as i known doesn't seem to affect any fish, but how can one get a completely zero ammonia? If i stand corrected as long as there are fish in the tank there will always be some level of ammonia so, how can one achieve zero ammonia? Because people always say there shouldn't be any ammonia present in a tank but i don't know how that could be possible if there are fish in the tank and an ongoing cycle. Does anybody els tank read completely zero every time you test or even at times?

Yes, zero ammonia is possible.

What are you using to test?
What size tank and how long has it been running?
How many and what type of fish are in the tank?
What filter(s) are you running?
Have you tested your source water for ammonia?

 

[jaysurf7]

It's a 65-gallon community tank that's been running for 4 years now my old one sprung a leak that was running for over 20 years, I'm running a UFG,and a fluval 303 canister filter also have a UV sterilizer running most of the time. I have a combination of fish,barbs,sliver dollars, Mollys rainbow fish some glass catfish, and some tetra's. I test with API test kit,l don't have any live plants.Mabey im feeding them a lil to much at that would maybe cause the little ammonia that reads other than that the fish are fine.Some time its also hard to match the exact color on the test chart.

 

[Forgetfullfishy]

Maybe your tap water had ammonia in it originally. Have you tested your tap water’s ammonia level before?

 

[Flyfisha]

I have a household rubbish bin that is empty for ten minutes every two weeks.

In my opinion ammonia is in constant supply . Sure the bacteria consume it as fast as possible but more is arriving with every breath from the fish.

In order to see the least amount of green colour in the test tube use natural sunlight. Stand with your back to the sun and the chart / tube in your bodies shade.



The top picture is under house lights. With the bottom picture taken 20 seconds later in Australian sunlight.

edit
no ammonia in my tap water.

 

[Frank the Fish guy]

OP more and more water companies are putting chloramines in the water. This will read as ammonia in your tap water.

This residual ammonia is a problem if you have high pH since at high pH the ammonia takes the toxic form.

 

[MaritimeAquaman]

Be sure to shake the bottles really well, and read the colour under as bright a light as possible. There's a good chance you'll get a zero reading by doing this.

 

[TClare]

I have tested many times but never had any ammonia in any of my tanks since they have been established.

 

[KingOscar]

It's a 65-gallon community tank that's been running for 4 years now my old one sprung a leak that was running for over 20 years, I'm running a UFG,and a fluval 303 canister filter also have a UV sterilizer running most of the time. I have a combination of fish,barbs,sliver dollars, Mollys rainbow fish some glass catfish, and some tetra's. I test with API test kit,l don't have any live plants.Mabey im feeding them a lil to much at that would maybe cause the little ammonia that reads other than that the fish are fine.Some time its also hard to match the exact color on the test chart.

There have been many others here posting similar. They can't get to pure yellow but other than that all is well. They often conclude that this can be normal.

I agree that the lighting plays a factor, and maybe even other elements in the water or tank do also. Possibly most of all the viewers perspective. I sometimes see what appears to be a slight tinge of green in some of my tests. Personally, the test shown above in Flyfisha's post appears this way to me. Yet he/she claims zero ammonia and all is well.

My point is you have 24 years of what I assume to be generally positive experience with your fishes health, correct? If so, I see no reason to fret over this.

 

[SparkyJones]

I've got 24 adult angelfish in a 72 gallon and zero ammonia it's producing 15 nitrates a day, but its possible to never see the ammonia or nitrites on tests.

I'd Agree though, residual ammonia from chloramine, maybe lighting affecting how the color looks to the eye.

Maybe the uv sterilizer killing off microscopic things and that's making ammonia, maybe poor flow or circulation and a dead zone in the tank.

I don't think .25 ammonia is anything to be concerned with unless you have like pH 9.5 though.

 

[Arvil]

I’ve read here that the API test can give false positives (0.25 when the actual is 0). But it can read zero if there is a small amount, ppm below detectable. I consistently get zero with both ammonia and nitrites, seeing a slow increase in nitrates. The cycle is working correctly, the bugs are processing well.

 

[FishDin]

If you want accuracy you need a proper test kit. API gives us approximations which are all we need for keeping fish.

I use the API tests. My tanks always test at zero ammonia.

FWIW, my tap water does not have chloramines.

 

[SparkyJones]

If you want accuracy you need a proper test kit. API gives us approximations which are all we need for keeping fish.

I use the API tests. My tanks always test at zero ammonia.

FWIW, my tap water does not have chloramines.

Yeah there is that. All of the testing used in the hobby are like "total" tests, not "free" tests, and like hobby or consumer pool level, not professional water testing equipment.
Like "total" ammonia tests measure ammonia and ammonium (all forms) which is molecular bound ammonia and a larger molecule that isn't absorbed easy and much less toxic. A "free" ammonia test would just catch the ammonia, the unbound base molecule that is the most toxic version.

All of them are overall and generalizations, a "ballpark" to know what's going on, but not exact. If you did want exact and have the money to do it, Hanna Instruments makes all kinds of amazing and exact testing meters and reagents.

Testing is good, don't get me wrong, it has its uses. I test my tapwater to make sure the city hasn't messed with it since the last time before I water change, or if I notice an issue I test also to try to figure out what's going on for instance, but for the most part I don't test other than those reasons and just do regular water changes now and dont really care what the tests say. Most all testing I'm doing is to make sure the city didn't over chlorinate or change something and I maybe missed a notice.

 

[Frank the Fish guy]

Sometime it is said that cholramine produces a 'false positive' residual ammonia reading.

But this is not really a false positive. I mean, the water company put ammonia into the water, and it is really there. It is just that the ammonia did not come from the tank inhabitants.

 

[ruud]

No ammonia means no protein metabolism means no life.

 

[jaysurf7]

I did test the tap water and it almost seems pretty much the same as far as i can tell but again it's hard to really tell as the exact color sometimes it seems it might be slightly brighter on the chart.

I've got 24 adult angelfish in a 72 gallon and zero ammonia it's producing 15 nitrates a day, but its possible to never see the ammonia or nitrites on tests.

I'd Agree though, residual ammonia from chloramine, maybe lighting affecting how the color looks to the eye.

Maybe the uv sterilizer killing off microscopic things and that's making ammonia, maybe poor flow or circulation and a dead zone in the tank.

I don't think .25 ammonia is anything to be concerned with unless you have like pH 9.5 though.

Thats what i was wondering if one did seem to have a constant reading of .25 would that really make much of a difference compared to a .0 would that slight difference really cause anything that would be a concern, and have you keep trying to get that.0 reading?

 

[TClare]

No ammonia means no protein metabolism means no life.

True, but I presume I don't measure any ammonia as the plants, especially water lettuce, are consuming it as fast as it is produced?

 

[KingOscar]

What ever the reason(s) for the modest green tinge (or non-bright yellow?) you are seeing in your test results I would not be concerned. Especially if it is consistently like this. I'd just consider it zero. Seriously, there is no way a functioning, seasoned, UGF and a canister filter are not processing all of your ammonia nearly the instant it is produced.

 

[SparkyJones]

I did test the tap water and it almost seems pretty much the same as far as i can tell but again it's hard to really tell as the exact color sometimes it seems it might be slightly brighter on the chart.

Thats what i was wondering if one did seem to have a constant reading of .25 would that really make much of a difference compared to a .0 would that slight difference really cause anything that would be a concern, and have you keep trying to get that.0 reading?

It's not a big deal in acidic or neutral water but the higher the water gets on the alkaline side of the scale the more dangerous ammonia becomes.
6s or 7s pH, .25 ammonia is a non-issue.
8+ pH it gets concerning and may injure or kill the fish depending on how high the pH is.
In theory, if the pH were high enough even .25ppm can be concerning.

If you had a pH of 5, even if your ammonia was reading 8.0 ppm there wouldn't be enough actual ammonia to do damage, it would all be bound as ammonium and too big a molecule to be absorbed by the fish easily.

True, but I presume I don't measure any ammonia as the plants, especially water lettuce, are consuming it as fast as it is produced?

I'd assume you run 0 ammonia on a test for the same reason I run zero ammonia on tests but have no plants, the cycle takes care of it efficiently.
If you run zero nitrates, that would be your plants doing it. I have to water change they just keep stacking up if I don't.

 

[jaysurf7]

that's interesting didn't really know that different PHs would affect ammonia that much. I just tested the water the PH is reading 6.0 as far i can tell. I have this test kit a long time for years not sure if it could be outdated.

 

[Frank the Fish guy]

that's interesting didn't really know that different PHs would affect ammonia that much. I just tested the water the PH is reading 6.0 as far i can tell. I have this test kit a long time for years not sure if it could be outdated.

Your buffers are depleted. The cycle stops as the pH falls to 6.0 - assuming that you cycled your tank at a higher pH. This is why your ammonia is going up. Your cycle is stalling due to buffer depletion.

Get some buffers into this tank. You can add some baking soda to get the buffers back quickly. Then add some limestone rock or crushed coral which will maintain your buffers naturally.

 

[jaysurf7]

Your buffers are depleted. The cycle stops as the pH falls to 6.0 - assuming that you cycled your tank at a higher pH. This is why your ammonia is going up. Your cycle is stalling due to buffer depletion.

Get some buffers into this tank. You can add some baking soda to get the buffers back quickly. Then add some limestone rock or crushed coral which will maintain your buffers naturally.

Do you think not enough water changes would cause buffers to be depleted? i do about 40% weekly

 

[ruud]

KH is used by microbes and true aquatic plants. So yes, KH goes down over time. Unless you do water changes. 40% seems more than enough. But obviously it depends on the amount of bicarbonates in your water source.

 

[jaysurf7]

Oh,ok not sure what the KH is in my tank, I'll get a test kit always good to know what level things are in the tank

 

[ruud]

Oh,ok not sure what the KH is in my tank, I'll get a test kit always good to know what level things are in the tank

You should be able to download a recent report from your water supplier. It is mandatory for them to disclose this information. In the report, bicarbonates should be mentioned. Most likely in mg/l or ppm.

1 dKH = 21,8 mg/l or ppm bicarbonates.

 

[SparkyJones]

You should be able to download a recent report from your water supplier. It is mandatory for them to disclose this information. In the report, bicarbonates should be mentioned. Most likely in mg/l or ppm.

1 dKH = 21,8 mg/l or ppm bicarbonates.

just a slight correction ruud, 1dKH = 17.9 mg/l or ppm,

 

[ruud]

just a slight correction ruud, 1dKH = 17.9 mg/l or ppm,

dKH equals the amount of carbonates found in calcium carbonate, CaCO3.

1 dKH = 17.86 mg/l CaCO3

7.14 mg of this is calcium, the other 10.71 is carbonates, CO3.

The conversion of carbonates to bicarbonates is CO3 + H2O + CO2 = 2 HCO3

1 carbonate equals 2 bicarbonates

1dKH = 10.71 * 2 = 21.8 mg/l HCO3

Hence, if you find an X amount of mg/l bicarbonates in a report, simply divide with 21.8 to get the dKH.

Of course, what we intent to measure is alkalinity, which is not only (bi)carbonates, but other H+ acceptors as well. And although KH is understood as "carbonate hardness" only, it actually measures more than (bi)carbonates and includes all h+ acceptors.

Confusing...

 

[SparkyJones]

thank you, that's a bit deeper than I thought, and I'm now a little lost I was thinking carbonates were a salt of carbonic acid (CH2O3), not necessarily being the carbonate Ion exclusive (CO3-2) , carbonate being (H2CO3), and bicarbonate being (HCO3-)
Kinda thought CO3 was Carbon Trioxide....I guess it all gets us to the same place, I just wouldnt think the 1 mol of hydrogen difference between carbonate and bicarbonate, would translate so big in the conversion.

Chemistry isn't my strong suit at all. ...... I'm lost and I surrender

i looked at my water quality report for my city, they don't address carbonates or bicarbonates at all, I do have sodium, its like 24 ppm, from saltwater intrusion and soil,
and Apparently... very low levels of Radium226, barium and arsenic.
yuck!

 

[ruud]

I'm lazy in my writing and don't express the charges. Also, because the editor doesn't facilitate chemistry annotations.

This is what happens in our tanks:

CO2 dissolves in water. Well, most in gas form: CO2(g)
The other 1% reacts with water H2O to form carbonic acid, H2CO3.

Carbonic acid is actually not acid, until it reacts with water:

H2CO3 + H2O → H3O+ + HCO3–

The first element H3O+ is actually what is most often written as H+ which is the acid ("pH"). But it always bonds with a water molecule, hence it should be written as H3O+

HCO3– is bicarbonate

What also can happen:

HCO3– + H2O → 2 H3O+ + CO3-2

The -2 is the negative charge and should be written as superscript. CO3 indeed is carbon trioxide. But carbonate is CO3-2. The charge is often not written, because ... well, we also don't write H3O+ but H+. Most people are not chemists. And editors not always support chemistry annotation.

Anyways, the exact reactions depends on the overall pH:

Relative-speciation-of-carbon-dioxide-CO2-bicarbonate-inline-formula-and.png

This image can be misinterpreted very easily! People might think there's no CO2 at high pH .

 

[86 ssinit]

Well I guess my first question is how are your fish? No fin rot or breathing problems? Not hanging at the top of the tank?
Your test kit is fine. Expiration dates weren’t added till sometime after 2003. They do help sell product. I’ve got 2 now one from 03 one from 17 both test the same. Funny thing the color chart has changed. But only for nitrate. What I don’t get is the glass vials! Why glass? They break. Plastic would be much better. You’d never need to replace them…. Oh wait I get it .

 

[jaysurf7]

I'm lazy in my writing and don't express the charges. Also, because the editor doesn't facilitate chemistry annotations.

This is what happens in our tanks:

CO2 dissolves in water. Well, most in gas form: CO2(g)
The other 1% reacts with water H2O to form carbonic acid, H2CO3.

Carbonic acid is actually not acid, until it reacts with water:

H2CO3 + H2O → H3O+ + HCO3–

The first element H3O+ is actually what is most often written as H+ which is the acid ("pH"). But it always bonds with a water molecule, hence it should be written as H3O+

HCO3– is bicarbonate

What also can happen:

HCO3– + H2O → 2 H3O+ + CO3-2

The -2 is the negative charge and should be written as superscript. CO3 indeed is carbon trioxide. But carbonate is CO3-2. The charge is often not written, because ... well, we also don't write H3O+ but H+. Most people are not chemists. And editors not always support chemistry annotation.

Anyways, the exact reactions depends on the overall pH:

Relative-speciation-of-carbon-dioxide-CO2-bicarbonate-inline-formula-and.png

This image can be misinterpreted very easily! People might think there's no CO2 at high pH .

wow very informative thank you, you can always learn something new here no matter how long your keeping aquariums.

Well I guess my first question is how are your fish? No fin rot or breathing problems? Not hanging at the top of the tank?
Your test kit is fine. Expiration dates weren’t added till sometime after 2003. They do help sell product. I’ve got 2 now one from 03 one from 17 both test the same. Funny thing the color chart has changed. But only for nitrate. What I don’t get is the glass vials! Why glass? They break. Plastic would be much better. You’d never need to replace them…. Oh wait I get it .

The fish seem fine,eating,swimming no fin rot,ick etc... even the new fish i get doing ok.Good to know the test kits last long, I guess since people are always saying that a tank shouldn't have any ammonia people are always trying to get that .0 thinking if ifs not exactly .0 then something's wrong in the tank. But i have fish for years and years in the tank and they seem to flourish and are ok.I guess that slight ammonia reading some of us get isn't anything to really to fret over.

 

[ruud]

wow very informative thank you, you can always learn something new here no matter how long your keeping aquariums.

You'd almost think I'm the guy that measures and tries to control everything in a tank. The exact opposite is true. I don't measure anything.

(OK, the temperature in my blackwater tank is the exception)

Anyways, good luck with measuring and controlling ammonia

 

[KingOscar]

I'm lazy in my writing and don't express the charges. Also, because the editor doesn't facilitate chemistry annotations.

This is what happens in our tanks:

CO2 dissolves in water. Well, most in gas form: CO2(g)
The other 1% reacts with water H2O to form carbonic acid, H2CO3.

Carbonic acid is actually not acid, until it reacts with water:

H2CO3 + H2O → H3O+ + HCO3–

The first element H3O+ is actually what is most often written as H+ which is the acid ("pH"). But it always bonds with a water molecule, hence it should be written as H3O+

HCO3– is bicarbonate

What also can happen:

HCO3– + H2O → 2 H3O+ + CO3-2

The -2 is the negative charge and should be written as superscript. CO3 indeed is carbon trioxide. But carbonate is CO3-2. The charge is often not written, because ... well, we also don't write H3O+ but H+. Most people are not chemists. And editors not always support chemistry annotation.

Anyways, the exact reactions depends on the overall pH:

Relative-speciation-of-carbon-dioxide-CO2-bicarbonate-inline-formula-and.png

This image can be misinterpreted very easily! People might think there's no CO2 at high pH .

Yikes! Where's the head spinning emoji when I need it?

 

[jaysurf7]

I was also wondering if under or overdosing prime when doing water changes will affect ammonia readings when testing?

 

[ruud]

No it won't.
This is the best-we've-got study about the matter: Does Prime actually "Detoxify" free ammonia, NH3?
(link to another forum; sorry about that)

 

[jaysurf7]

Very interesting study that's good to know, pretty amazing what goes on in our tanks behind the scenes as far as the chemistry, levels etc.

 

[ruud]

Yes, some understanding really helps to separate the use from the useless.

If a supplier makes a claim that product X results in outcome Y, it should at least offer some documentation with falsifiable results ("we conducted a test with 8 tanks with dimensions x,y,z in a room that was kept at x temp. In tanks 2 and 4 we dosed....etc etc").

If it really worked, would't you like to write about it?

Because ammonia is not a big deal to begin with, you can sell a product that does absolutely nothing for decades. You can also purchase water in bottles and even air in bottles. I promise, it's good for your aquarium.

Warranted: Prime does neutralise chlorine.

 

[Redshark1]

In my country the OATA (Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association) recommends that free ammonia (NH3) should not exceed 0.02ppm in aquaria. OATA issues the licences to LFSs.

Similarly the USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) recommends a limit of 0.02 ppm as NH3 in freshwater or marine environments.

I measure 0.25ppm total ammonia in my tank too (API test). This gives me 0.00223ppm of free ammonia. My fish are 29 years old.

Ammonia is produced wherever there is organic material living or dead so cannot be zero in a normal environment. It could however be at levels too low to be detectable. This may because the test being operated is not sensitive to very low levels. Perhaps it doesn't need to be. Because it's natural and safe.

 

[Flyfisha]

Ammonia can be extremely toxic to fish at certain temperatures and PH levels.

With tropical fish temperatures any amount of ammonia puts the fish in the danger zone any time the PH is over 7.5 .
jaysurf7 anytime your PH is over 7.5 in a tropical fish tank there really is no safe level for ammonia.

edit to add .
Redshark1 your post was not available to me one and a half hours after you wrote it or I would not have written my reply.

fishlore is very odd sometimes with the way post arrive . This is just another example of something odd going on?

 

[Redshark1]

According to sources I have seen 0.25ppm of total ammonia is not considered dangerous to fish health at any normal tropical fish temperature or pH.

 

[KribensisLover1]

It's a 65-gallon community tank that's been running for 4 years now my old one sprung a leak that was running for over 20 years, I'm running a UFG,and a fluval 303 canister filter also have a UV sterilizer running most of the time. I have a combination of fish,barbs,sliver dollars, Mollys rainbow fish some glass catfish, and some tetra's. I test with API test kit,l don't have any live plants.Mabey im feeding them a lil to much at that would maybe cause the little ammonia that reads other than that the fish are fine.Some time its also hard to match the exact color on the test chart.

YES! I think it’s the color issue! That was my first thought. My second thought was tap water often has ammonia but you waited 24 hours to test so it’s not that!

 

[FishDin]

Here is another way to see the ammonia / pH relationship. For example, this chart shows that at pH 7.0 and a tremperature of 24C / 75F you can have a total ammonia reading (that's what API tests measure) of 3.85ppm while the free ammonia is only .02ppm. That's more ammonia than most people use to cycle their tanks.

The chart does not include the acid part of the scale, but you can see the trend that if the pH is in the 6's you can have total ammonia readings of 4ppm or more without without exposing fish to dangerous levels of free ammonia.

 

[SparkyJones]

I think there's a little misunderstanding on how this ammonia thing works,nobody take it personal and think it's directed at you possibly, it is not.
This is basically a beginner introduction to Ammonia in an aquarium.
If you have fish, you have ammonia production 24/7. there's no way around it, microorganisms also produce ammonia. there is always ammonia whether it shows up on a test or not. When it appears on a test it is showing the backlog of ammonia that your biological filter isn't handling for whatever the cause. that backlog may or may not be dangerous depending on the ammonia level, pH and water temperature.

your "cycle" and in essence, your biological filter is breaking down ammonia into nitrites, and then into nitrates. this is also constant, 24/7 happening. so when you get a ppm reading of ammonia, which is highly toxic to fish, this is an indication the bilological filter isn't handling the ammonia production.

When it is right, and the aquarium is cycled, there' isn't Ammonia showing on a test, the fish and everything in it that produces ammonia or the "load" is handled by an adequate biofilter and the test is zero. this happens with 1 fish or with 25 fish. my 72 gallon aquarium has 24x 1 year old angelfish, I do not have ammonia registering on an ammonia test, HOWEVER, clearly I have ammonia, because I gain about 15 nitrates a day. (currently with my diatom bloom in full force, I'm actually not gaining any nitrates anymore, the diatoms are probably cleaning the nitrogen up at this point but that's another story)

1 ppm ammonia becomes 2.7 ppm nitrite and then 3.6 ppm nitrate as it converts it becomes a bigger heavy molecule, and so it gains in ppm as it converts,
If I have 15 nitrates a day showing on a test, it's safe to assume my tank produces 4ppm ammonia a day and my biological filter is handling it well since ammonia tests are 0s. Every 6 hours 1ppm of ammonia is being processed by the biofilter on average without a hiccup. Something like 1ppm ammonia processed by millions of nitrifying bacteria over 21,600 seconds of time. The fish produce it constantly and it trickles, the waste breaks down constantly and it trickles...
...and the bacteria break it constantly as it appears.

A well established and "solid" filter and biofilter should not show Ammonia on a test when it's all working right. A fish death that's gone unnoticed might cause an ammonia spike, throwing out filter media might cause a spike (hang on back filter cartridges for instance) or adding more fish than the biofilter can handle at one time might cause a spike, these are temporary and solved by water changes to get over the hump.

If you "always" have ammonia showing on a test it can be
A. the test or your testing method, or your eyes and lighting not identifying the colors correctly.
B. the filter circulation/aeration, or filter material that houses you biological filter is not adequate size for the load or size of the aquarium. .

There is ALWAYS ammonia in your aquarium, there's no way to be rid of it unless it has no life at all in it. But you really shouldn't see the ammonia on a test if the aquarium is set up correctly, cycled, and running right. it should be doing its thing undetectable but evidenced by the nitrates that build up between water changes.

That's not to say though that ammonia, if you do have it showing on a test, is going to be as deadly as it's made out to be. It can be very deadly, but it can also be a non issue depending on what was stated by others with the charts that show ammonia levels, pH and temperature, it's not a "panic mode" thing if you see it on a test in many cases, especially 0.25ppm but it shouldn't be taken lightly either, if it's a true reading, and there is detectable ammonia, it's a sign that there is a problem with the biofilter or there's too much ammonia for the biofilter to handle, or both.

"zero" ammonia is impossible unless the tank is lifeless. "zero" ammonia on a test though is very possible, and is what should be happening. If it's not, there is a problem, it might be with the testing, it might be with the filter, it might be with the stocking, but if there is ammonia, there's a problem.

 

[Redshark1]

My six 12" Clown Loaches produce ammonia that goes into the water. My testing tests the water that is on its way to the filter. That is why it is 0.25ppm. If I test the water returning from the filter perhaps that will be zero.

 

[jaysurf7]

I always thought that if your test reads.25 its nothing to really worry about that in actually it could be lower than that, but it would still read.25 since a tank will always have some level of ammonia and that's what its picking up on the test since it doesn't have a .15 or .05,so it would read the closest thing that it could pick up. Sometimes it reads zero as far as i can tell or very close to it i know it's not an exact science. If everything is going ok in your tank and the PH isn't high as stated i don't think one should worry, because a lot of fish keepers are always trying to get that zero reading and get frustrated when it's not.
I use the API test kit like a lot of others here, but anybody ever try those Digital ammonia testers???Are they ok also?

 

[ruud]

I hoped by now, you would have asked for a pH tester instead.

You are focusing on tank water. But ammonia issues take place within the fish. Not in the tank. What's the difference? The gills. I'll open a new thread about this - might be interesting for some.

 

[jaysurf7]

That's what i meant to say a digital PH tester never used one before i thought it would also give ammonia readings also, I was just curious if the test kit and the digital give the same readings if i tried them both.