Seachem Ammonia Alert

[Qckslvr]

worth it? does it actually work?

We test our tank twice a week ever since incident with the rowaphos. And my wife is just hyper paranoid of Ammonia in the tank. The first time we saw the Hanna tester give us a reading of .1 for Ammonia we almost had a heart attack. Since then we have learned Hanna's test method, and how to caIculate the reading to NH3.

I have seen these Seachem tests at AC, Neptune, Petco, seen them mentioned on R2R. Was just wondering is this something that will help keep the peace so to speak, or cause more trouble than worth.

Thanks

 

[Turkeysammich]

It really depends on what you’re using it for. You’re gonna get mixed reviews. I’m a little colorblind so it’s hard for me to tell if it’s yellow or very lite green.
Plus if you’re using it for qt. The copper bonds with the ammonia giving it a false reading. That’s just me tho. Others will have different opinions. In qt. I stick with the standard wc protocol.

If you’re using it to cycle. Then just let the aquarium do its thing. You only have to check nitrates at the finish line. Doesn’t matter what it does during the cycle. Imo.

 

[Qckslvr]

It really depends on what you’re using it for. You’re gonna get mixed reviews. I’m a little colorblind so it’s hard for me to tell if it’s yellow or very lite green.
Plus if you’re using it for qt. The copper bonds with the ammonia giving it a false reading. That’s just me tho. Others will have different opinions. In qt. I stick with the standard wc protocol.

If you’re using it to cycle. Then just let the aquarium do its thing. You only have to check nitrates at the finish line. Doesn’t matter what it does during the cycle. Imo.

More or less it would be to give my wife daily peace of mind in the main tank.

 

[MichaelB]

Short answer it can't hurt. Not useless like api test kits. Yet nothing I would totally count on at the risk of my fish.

I bought 2 at same time in tanks next to each other. One seems to work as expected the other one didn't work at all for first week now it seems to be working.

So if it's used as a quick visual it's fine. But don't trust it by assuming hey it's shows color is fine when things may not be.

It's a very cheap mass produced type product meaning you could have a screwed up one like I did.

If I see it off that tells me I better test for ammonia.

Though as @Turkeysammich said sticking to a water change routine will help more than anything.
.I only test ammonia on qt tanks. I don't bother in my established tanks. Unless something looked way off and I tested everything possible to troubleshoot potentially issues.

 

[Qckslvr]

as of right now 10% changes every Saturday morning.

Saturday morning at 8 am, I grab my 20 gallon grey brute, throw in my pump and heater and roughly 4 pounds of Red Sea Coral Max salt. Usually by 9:30 it is ready to go. And by 10:30 both tanks have had their glass cleaned inside and out, water changed, filters replaced, skimmer bowls removed and scrubbed, ATO refilled, and back up running. I am quite proud of myself of how far I have come in my abilities to get this task down.

We need to hold tank water change competition

 

[L/B Block]

as of right now 10% changes every Saturday morning.

Saturday morning at 8 am, I grab my 20 gallon grey brute, throw in my pump and heater and roughly 4 pounds of Red Sea Coral Max salt. Usually by 9:30 it is ready to go. And by 10:30 both tanks have had their glass cleaned inside and out, water changed, filters replaced, skimmer bowls removed and scrubbed, ATO refilled, and back up running. I am quite proud of myself of how far I have come in my abilities to get this task down.

We need to hold tank water change competition

That is impressive.

 

[Slingfox]

It really depends on what you’re using it for. You’re gonna get mixed reviews. I’m a little colorblind so it’s hard for me to tell if it’s yellow or very lite green.
Plus if you’re using it for qt. The copper bonds with the ammonia giving it a false reading. That’s just me tho. Others will have different opinions. In qt. I stick with the standard wc protocol.

If you’re using it to cycle. Then just let the aquarium do its thing. You only have to check nitrates at the finish line. Doesn’t matter what it does during the cycle. Imo.

Copper used in QT tanks interferes with the titration tests for ammonia—it dos not interfere with how the Seachem Ammonia Alert badges work. This is why these badges are commonly used on QT tanks.

See post here from HumbleFish:

Copper power + ammonia

I placed a yellow sailfin that has had known Ich previously in a 40g tank this past Saturday with 1.0 copper power snd have slowly raised it up to 1.70 as of this afternoon. I tested ammonia with an API test kit and I’m showing .25ppm ammonia. Will copper power skew this test kit? Or is my...

humble.fish