Jeska Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 I just bought a new ammonia test kit, and it is registering ammonia in my tank. It's just the Hagan one with one bottle of reagent...normally I use the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals kit with two bottles of reagent. Is it possible that the Flourish Excel that is registering the small amount of ammonia? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayen Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 I highly doubt that. Try checking around for dead fish, rotting leaves etc in your tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeska Posted January 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Nope, tank is good as far as I can tell. I did a couple of tests...I tested just plain tap water and got 0 ppm...then I added a few drops of Flourish Excel and got 1ppm, so I'm going to go and by my usual test kit tomorrow and I'll see what it says. I know Amquel can't be used with the single reagent kits, but I've never heard anything about Flourish Excel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Flourish excel is just a form of carbon, I doubt it should raise ammonia levels at all. There could be a chemical reaction going on with the chemicals in the test kit and the carbon, causing it to read something over 0. That would be my best guess. If that's the case, just try to test the water before you add anything to the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Flourish excel is just a form of carbon Not just a form of carbon. It does have toxic properties at high enough concentrations. How much Excel are you using? Are you ODing it to kill algae? In sufficient quantities it can also inhibit/kill off bacteria. So if you have a lot of decomposing algae and reduced bacterial colonies, you may have interrupted your nitrogen cycle and would therefore see an increase in ammonia. But... it may also be a reaction between the Excel and the test kit chemicals since you are getting ammonia readings in tap water. If the tank has lots of plants, they should be using up the ammonia anyhow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeska Posted January 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 Flourish excel is just a form of carbon Not just a form of carbon. It does have toxic properties at high enough concentrations. How much Excel are you using? Are you ODing it to kill algae? In sufficient quantities it can also inhibit/kill off bacteria. So if you have a lot of decomposing algae and reduced bacterial colonies, you may have interrupted your nitrogen cycle and would therefore see an increase in ammonia. But... it may also be a reaction between the Excel and the test kit chemicals since you are getting ammonia readings in tap water. If the tank has lots of plants, they should be using up the ammonia anyhow. Thanks Werner. No, I'm not OD'ing. Just using 1 ml for the 10 gallons once a day. I don't have any algae luckily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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