Really need your API and brand X ammonia reading pics

[brandon429]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2309544

 

example, look at the green color. There is no biological reason to have ammonia in this tank, wasnt added. I know the consensus will be he had live rock dieoff, as we reach to fill in the blanks for a test kit that is showing ammonia where there is none. so many times over.

 

but some tests are good, and some of the pics here show it. I guess I'll upgrade them from useless crap to 50% believable half the time

 

it does no good to argue about ammonia origins, some people believe you must get a dieoff any time lr is simply transferred from one tank to another. if you use any test kit other than api, that doesnt occur. benthics on cured lr have to be treated pretty rough to die off, including sponges etc. its not as weak as we make it seem in always trying to make an API reading fit where we think it should be. for those who believe there is ammonia in this tank to fit the reading its probably not a huge issue as the reading is low. its my opinion there is none, the ammonia generated by respiration from oxygen burning animals/life forms is rapidly converted by the bacteria that came in on aged material, imo, registering effectively zero. any animals in this tank are not being burned etc...

 

thanks for the feedback though its very helpful and there is a lot of support to keep using API which is understandable if they had good kit history. I just care if it matches the reality of the tank, still I wouldnt look to api to tell me ammonia readings any full tank shot is far more reliable.

[seabass]

There is no biological reason to have ammonia in this tank, wasnt added. I know the consensus will be he had live rock dieoff...

I don't agree; look at the second post in this thread. Seemingly clean dry rock can be a substantial source of ammonia (there was 30 lbs added to the tank in your link).

 

I still haven't seen a good example of false high readings. Although I might believe that a color change possibly occurs at levels lower than 0.25 ppm.

[brandon429]

thats cool, its why we collect opinions. I havent seen dry rock loaded with ammonia so I dont consider it. the tanks we set up with marco and brs rocks here never had a prob. how are you posing the ammonia is carried/bound/matriced while the live rock is dry and then when rehydrated is liberated as free amm? Im curious to know what form it resides in when fully dessicated. this w be interesting. live rock that was once covered in growth, and then allowed to dry, effectively retaining that protein beef jerky would be explainable. but clean white rock? Im interested to know retention abilities within the rock, when the outside is free of any.

 

we are insinuating that dry live rock has enough ammonia, bioloading, to out compete 40 pounds of live sand and another few pounds of live rock cured in an aquarium.../

[happyhour99]

don't forget, there is a lot of internal space in LR. it may look clean on the outside, but there could be jerky on the inside

[seabass]

The rock I used was from Marco Rocks. I pressure washed it and let it dry again. It was seemingly clean, but when I put it in a tub of water, it became loaded with ammonia (and phosphate). I don't believe that ammonia itself was released, but that dried organic material was breaking down.

 

don't forget, there is a lot of internal space in LR. it may look clean on the outside, but there could be jerky on the inside

This rock was fairly porous.

[brandon429]

ok that makes sense, to be caught in the channels of the rock. I was thinking there was a binding thing left uncovered. if it had organics yes that does make sense.

[notwithit]

i haven't seen it myself, but i've read a ton of people complaining about it. IMO i think its from over stocked tanks and the api test is more senstive at lower ammonia concentrations, so its reading the tiny little bit of ammonia that hasn't been eaten by bacteria yet , but thats just the feeling that i get from reading about peoples tanks and i have no hard evidence towards it. I use api tests kits and have had no problems with it so far.

thats why i tell people not to freek out if they see 0.25. They can panic if there is 0.5 or there is nitrite.

 

+1 to comparing color, but cameras help, but each camera is also different! Same with lighting and monitors... But pics do help

 

I'm also curious if it isn't that they dont shake the bottle enough.... or are using old tests.

[seabass]

There for awhile (with people repeating others' reports of inaccurate tests), I was starting to believe that their ammonia kits were suspect; but now I'm fairly convinced that they are fine.