API Accuracy Issue?

[Ajamese]

So- I have started a new 5.6 Gallon Spec V tank. Hawaiian Black live sand, have mature live rock and am currently filtering with carbon, polyfilter and biomax pellets. I have not introduced any fish into the tank, but do have a cerith snail and 2 banded trochus snails grazing like crazy right now.

 

Problem with this is that I have been testing like crazy - once a day for the first week and around every other day since (maybe a week and half). My Nitrates have dropped off completely and my pH has been relatively steady and nitrites have been gone since day 2. My ammonia however has held steady between 0 and .35 (never truly hitting 0 I don't believe).

 

the ammonia has been hovering in this area for nearly the entire 2 and a half weeks with only one tiny little spike- a CLEAR reading at .35. Should I maybe trust that the ammonia level is at 0 and maybe the test kit just doesn't give a clear reading when levels are lower than .35?

 

Thanks guys

[seabass]

There are some people that report similar issues. But in my experience, these are new tanks which likely do still have some total ammonia present. I consistently get undetectable ammonia results from my API test kits (I've probably purchased a half a dozen of them in so many years).

 

However, I think you're right in that it is somewhere between 0 and 0.25ppm (possible much closer to 0, but still not undetectable). Two and a half weeks really isn't that long. It's reasonable to expect that there are still trace amounts of total ammonia left in your tank.