test kit gone bad??

[mpg]

is it possible for a water test kit to go bad?

i have one made by red sea.  when i had ammonia spikes, it used to read orange, but now it turns dark brown.  

i tested a "control" (tap water) and didn't get any brown, so it still seems to be detecting ammonia, but the brown instead of orange is making it difficult to determine an exact ppm.

i didn't leave the cap off or anything like that, and a week ago it was normal.  ever hear of this?

 

[Pooky125]

Try shaking it before your next test.. it might have seperated..

 

[ronrca]

Your tapwater has ammonia or does not? Is your tank cycling that you are getting ammonia? Just curious about your tank and maybe you could give us more info.

 

[mpg]

i think the ammonia spike was because i had some sick long-finned white clouds (mouth fungus) and was trying to save them.  i treated the tank with aq.salt and quick cure.  

when i tested the nitrites i was so happy that they were finally gone. but then tested the ammonia and it was back up. i think i killed the good bacteria with the bad.  so my cycle seems to be starting over again.

but the ammonia in the tap water is another thing. i tested the tap water straight out of the faucet: 0 ammonia.  but then i tested the conditioned water i had sitting in a jug and it was halfway up the scale.  curious.  

i understand that chloramine is sometimes used in tap water and is chlorine and ammonia together.  so conditioner takes out the chlorine and leaves the ammonia.  BUT nyc water says they use chlorine, not chloramine.  go figure.

i'm doing an experiment tonight where i have 1 gallon of water sitting open, and 1 gallon treated with aquasafe.  and see if they both have ammonia in them.  i'll let you know the results.

 

[Nucleus]

I had this kind of aberrant result with the test kit (but maybe it was with the nitrate/nitrite measurement) immediatly after to change 10-20% of water and i supposed it was an artefact of dechlorinate product ...  I redid the test later and the results was excellent ...

 

[WonderFish]

Test kits can and will go bad.  They generally lose their effectiveness.  I don't know how long it takes them.  If there's a possiblity you should replace it.  You want to get reliable readings.  

 

[ronrca]

If in doubt, try another test kit.

About the salt treatment, how much salt did you use?   If you added a lot of salt then I could see you killing the bio culture otherwise not. A lot of salt being over 5% mg/l I believe.

Yes, chloramine is ammonia bonded with chlorine or something like that. I think the best is to get a de-chloramine like seachems prime.

 

[mpg]

i added the recommended amount of salt (2 tablespoons for 10 gallons).  

if anything killed my bio culture, it was the quick-cure (formaldehyde and malachite green).  i added 10 drops every day until the white cloud looked healthy.

 

[mpg]

so...
i tested the tap water: 0 ammonia.
i tested water that's been sitting for 2 days: 0 ammonia.
water that's been treated with conditioner: AMMONIA WAS OFF THE CHART!

i don't think i'll ever be able to use water conditioner again!

 

[Atlantic Fish]

I had a similar problem a while back, my LFS guy told me that they do expire.  There is usually a lot number stamped on them.  With the brand I had, you could call them with the lot number and they would be able to tell you if it has expired..Check it out....maybe yours is the same....

 

[ChazECJr]

This post got lost, I'll put it here again in case someone might be interested and missed it.  Check out:

http://www.aquariumpharm.com/faq/lab/flchlor.htm

Does Quickcure really damage the bio filter?

 

[ronrca]

Mine was lost also!  :'(

As far as I know Chaz, my fish health books does not mention that formaldehyde and malachite green kill the bio. It would be good to really read the instructions.

 

[mpg]

a response from tetra about the aquasafe conditioner.  it's not a lot of information and leaves me sceptical.  :-/


hello,

the product aquasafe will break the chloramine bond. chloramine is ammonia and chlorine.  the initial breaking of the bond will remove the chlorine on contact but not the ammonia. it may linger until it is neutralized.  check your water company and see if they use chloramine.

also, some test kits will give a false ammonia positive when used with aquasafe. check to see if your test kit is a nessler reagent. if so, that is the false positive.

thank you
consumer relations
-----Original Message-----
...
Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2002 10:54 AM
To: 'consumer@tetra-fish.com'
Subject: aquasafe causes ammonia?


i have been using AquaSafe to treat the water i use when doing water changes.  

after the tank had fully cycled, ammonia was 0, nitrite was 0, i noticed i was getting mysterious spikes of ammonia for no reason.  i tested my tap water, 0 ammonia.  i tested the water treated with aquasafe and the ammonia was OFF THE CHART!

the AquaSafe instructions say "removes chloramine by breaking down the bond between ammonia and chlorine and removing the toxic ammonia."

are the instructions incorrect?  am i doing something wrong?  i can't continue to use AquaSafe because it's like pouring ammonia into my tank.

 

[catfishmike]

what kind of reagent type is it?i just tried amquel water conditioner for the first time and it said on the bottle that it was incompatable with one reagent type vs the other.maybe this is the problem,as you just said.if your ammonia keeps reading high no water conditoner will help only natures original solution,bacteria.every time you chang your water if the conditoner breaks up the chemical bond but there is no nitrfiying bacterica it would be the same as adding straight ammonia to your tank.once the cycle is done any ammonia should be quickly converted to nitrate then nitrite,with an immature cycle this would just compound the problem.don't worry about what the tests say just let nature run it's course and wait it out.you said the tank is fully cycled then it shouldn't ever show ammonia.onec i kept 8 fish in a 5gal.tank,one was even a pleco but my tank never showed ammonia,some nitrites but never ammonia.can you lessen the tank load to give the bacteria time to work?maybe traces of medication are still in the tank working aginst you,it could be anything.as long as the fish look ok that what counts