seachem ammonia alert question?

Question

I bought the product and put it in my 1 gallon tank, I set it up and put the ammonia alert inside and it said it was toxic so i put amquel plus instant water detoxifier, the indicator never changed so the next day I put another dose in and it still hasnt changed. Does the ammonia alert really work? There is no fish in the tank yet so why is the ammonia still in the tank?

Answer 1

I did quite a bit of research on the Ammonia Alert before I bought one for my tank. They don't wear out, they just have to be kept wet. I don't use mine as an absolute guide though, I still do use actual drop tests too. Whenever the ammonia alert starts to change color I do a real ammonia test to get an actual ammonia level. But so far if they ammonia alert says safe, my water tests safe, it says warning, my ammonia level is creeping up. I've been pretty happy with it. When I get my second tank up and running again, I'll be buying another Ammonia Alert for it too.

What do you have in this one gallon tank, and how old is the water in there? How much are you feeding your fish?

Ammonia needs to spike initially so good bacteria can grow to break down the ammonia. All tanks have to cycle, even a small tank like yours. That are you'll have to do frequent water changes to keep your levels in check, but this can stress your fish.

Answer 2

Try taking a water sample in a clean container to your pet/fish store and have them thest the ammonia for you. Liquid tests are more accurate than strips (which is all the seachem alert is - it's just made to give readings for a longer period of time).

You can judge how well the alert is working by the results from their test.

Also, a word of warning about AmQuel - this can change the pH of your water, so monitor pH when using it. I'm not sure what your water detoxifier is - is this to remove chlorine/chloramine? AmQuel already does that, so you only need one product. Same if you're using something like Ammo-Lock for ammonia. These are only a temporary fix anyway. The best way to get rid of ammonia is cycling, not overfeeding/overstocking, & water changes.

Answer 3

Ammonia will not miraculously go away overnight. You can't buy it away. Amquel only helps with small ammonia fluctuations. It can't fix completely out of control ammonia. Wouldn't that be nice if it did? All of us aquarists who struggle all the time trying to get our tanks cycled and keep them cycled would just magically not have to worry anymore. I don't know what this other "instant water detoxifier" is, but that's what Amquel is. There's no need to use two products that perform the same task. Yes, the ammonia alert worked just fine. But, like I said, you can't buy away bad water. You have to cycle the tank to get rid of ammonia. Learn what the nitrogen cycle is and get your tank cycled properly and the ammonia will go away. Here is a link to fishless cycling.

Answer 4

It doesn't work then