Why am I getting an ammonia reading

[aerotiy]

Hello all,

 

Here is a photo of the ammonia test I just ran:

 

My pH is 8.0, Nitrites are 0, and nitrate is around 5. I have accounted for all livestock except two of my three ceriths which are probably hidden in the sand bed somewhere.

 

I had this ammonia issue a few weeks back and it might have been what killed my blasto coral and firefish but I’m not sure.

 

The tank has been running for almost 4 months now. I have not added anything new except for a hammer coral about a week ago. 

[aerotiy]

Now I’m confused. Last water change was 12/12 and calcium test run 12/13 read 445. My reading from today is showing 455?? What am I doing wrong 

[zohar78]

I've heard water evoparation could affect the ppm of various tests if it's enough to change the salinity in the tank..  So I would try to always take it at same salinity. 

[markalot]

A couple of things.

 

First, you are getting an ammonia reading via that API test kit because it's not in the garbage.  Throw it away and no more ammonia reading.    Teasing, but yes, the API kits are not that accurate, especially ammonia in marine tanks.

 

Second is the same answer.  Your calcium tests are pretty much the same, don't sweat those changes with the API kits.   Also, in the future when if/when you need to dose Calcium and Alk be sure to use a 2 part solution and dose equal parts based on your Alkalinity test only.   In a new tank there's not much of a reason to test or dose, weekly water changes should keep up.  As you add more corals test more often to make sure Alk does not drop too low, but remember it's usually too much dosing that kills, vs not enough.   

[aerotiy]

On 1/11/2018 at 12:49 PM, markalot said:

A couple of things.

 

First, you are getting an ammonia reading via that API test kit because it's not in the garbage.  Throw it away and no more ammonia reading.    Teasing, but yes, the API kits are not that accurate, especially ammonia in marine tanks.

 

Second is the same answer.  Your calcium tests are pretty much the same, don't sweat those changes with the API kits.   Also, in the future when if/when you need to dose Calcium and Alk be sure to use a 2 part solution and dose equal parts based on your Alkalinity test only.   In a new tank there's not much of a reason to test or dose, weekly water changes should keep up.  As you add more corals test more often to make sure Alk does not drop too low, but remember it's usually too much dosing that kills, vs not enough.   

Thanks for the advice! Yeah I stopped being a control freak and over testing and I've just kept up with my water changes and sparse feeding schedule and everything seems fine for now. I tried to move my Duncan up from the sand bed onto the rock work but it was not happy with the change so I suppose the sand is where it will have to stay unless I start toying with the lighting, but I wouldn't know where to start with that. I haven't noticed any growth but it may be too soon - the tank is approximately 4.5 months old.

[OPtasia]

API kits aren't my favorite kits either. I ditched them for Red Sea test kits when I started getting wildly inaccurate readings, plus I use red sea pro sea salt which I really like.