Stalled Cycle – Could a Bad Ammonia Test Kit Be The Reason?

Welcome to Simple Reefs. This is a brand new website dedicated to taking the complexity out of Marine Aquarium Ownership. Our goal is to show you how you can own your very own slice of the ocean without spending a fortune. As well as giving you tons of easy to digest information on all things marine. We are still talking about stalled cycles and, today, we are looking at whether a bad test kit could be the reason for positive ammonia test results?

Persistent Ammonia While Cycling Your Marine Aquarium

This article is, really, a quick little addition to our series on stalled cycles in marine aquariums. I don’t want to go too in depth on this particular subject. But I, also, didn’t want to pad out my article on ammonia levels not dropping during cycling by talking too much about it there. With this in mind, I decided to put together this article with a few little examples of the issue.

The specific scenario we are referring to, here, is the constant presence of ammonia while cycling. Say, for example, you are expecting your cycle to be completely finished. It has been going for weeks, you have been following the instructions down to the letter. You have done everything you are supposed to do but you are still seeing ammonia in your test results.

Maybe it is a little, maybe it is a lot, but it doesn’t seem right. That 0.25PPM reading just won’t drop or disappear. Despite everything you have tried. Well, did you ever think that the reason might be the test kit you are using? There is a distinct possibility that this is the cause of all of your problems.

Marine Aquarium Test Kits Aren’t Very Accurate

There are a couple of truths regarding marine aquarium test kits that are tough to stomach if you can’t afford to purchase the more advanced methods like Hanna testers. The majority of marine aquarium test kits are very prone to user error, difficult to read, and subject to conditions that can impact their accuracy.

It seems simple, right? Just fill the vial with the desired amount of water, add the solution and/or powder, shake and wait. The truth is, there are so many things that can throw these tests off including, but not limited to..

• Insufficiently clean and dry test vials.
• Left over residue in test vials.
• Test vials with inaccurate volume labels.
• Tests that have gone bad.
• Solutions in your water that throw the tests off.
• Faded colour charts.
• Incorrect readings.
• User error when mixing the solution.

In all honesty, using a commercial test kit is a gamble and none of them are particularly suitable for very accurate measurement of the compounds in your water. It is very difficult to actually clean the test vials sufficiently to get accurate test results. Left over residue can corrupt the next test in a fairly significant way. Streaks on the vial can, also, impact the way the colour of the solution looks.

Many test vials feature a mark to indicate where to fill to with aquarium water. These marks can, often, be slightly off from vial to vial. This is particularly noteworthy with API kits. APIs 5ml line seems to be different to all of the 5ml lines on the various syringes I own.

Test kits subjected to varying environmental conditions can easily go bad. If kept in a warm environment, if the cap isn’t immediately replaced, if the incorrect cap is used etc. Certain things in your aquarium water can throw tests off. Chemicals, etc. Colour charts that you compare the colours in your vial to can fade and it can be very difficult to actually discern the differences between certain colours.

The Peril of User Error

All of those issues are without mentioning the potential for user error that occurs when performing these tests. There are so many steps where you can slip up. Did you clean the vial well enough? Did you use RODI water, afterwards, to prevent streaks and remove metals that will be left behind after evaporation. Was the vial dried thoroughly? Did you clean the outside of the vial and allow it to dry?

All of those problems can occur before you have even removed your test kit solutions from the box. After that, we can encounter another litany of issues. Did you shake the solution well before adding? Was your water measurement correct? Did you follow the instructions perfectly when it comes to mixing the solution with your aquarium water?

There are just so many steps where this process can go wrong and you will only get the most accurate result when you don’t make any mistakes. Even when you manage to complete the test perfectly, the result is not going to be pinpoint accurate. That’s just the nature of commercial test kits.

Some Test Kits Are Better Than Others

The simple truth of the matter is that some test kits are, simply, better than others. Different people have different experiences with different kits. Salifert, for example, have a decent reputation but a quick google search will reveal a whole bunch of hobbyists struggling with false positive ammonia tests. Red Sea are the same. There is, simply, no consensus on which is the most accurate.

This has been my own personal experience, as well. In fact, let’s get into some actual evidence of this as it happens. I will refer, specifically, to API test kits, here. API’s Saltwater Master Test Kit is, probably, a kit you will find in a lot of marine aquarium beginner’s aquarium supplies drawer.

It costs around £27 and contains an ammonia test kit, a nitrate test kit, a nitrite test kit, and a PH test kit. Great, right? That is pretty much full coverage when it comes to starting a new aquarium. The problem is, however, API Test Kits seem to be extremely prone to user error and inaccurate results. Even following the process perfectly, cleaning the vials to a shine, mixing the solution using an automatic mixer, and storing the solution perfectly. I still can’t get a remotely accurate test out of this kit.

Positive Ammonia in a Cycled Aquarium

I can demonstrate a positive ammonia test result in a cycled marine aquarium using an API kit. In fact, I was so sure that I could grab a positive Ammonia test, and an inaccurate Nitrate test, from this kit that I went ahead and did it, as I was writing. The test result that you can see on the right is an ammonia test. This test was performed on my main aquarium. An aquarium that is years old and, obviously, very well cycled.

Though it isn’t particularly obvious, the test result indicates 0.25PPM levels of ammonia. Your monitor, phone, or tablet will probably make this all look a little wonky. Particularly if your device leans towards yellow or blue so you will have to take my word when it comes to what I actually saw in person in a very bright room.

I can’t prove it but I performed the test exactly as instructed and in a way that will receive accurate results from every other test kit I own, including Hanna testers. The vial was immaculate, tests are well in date and have been stored in the dark, everything was properly shook up, the timing was accurately measured, the solution was mixed with an auto-mixer, and the test was read in a room full of bright daylight thanks to a glass roof.

Either I have a major crisis on my hands or that result is fairly inaccurate. I am sure I am not reading it incorrectly but a quick Hex check places the two colours extremely close together. That test suggests that I have ammonia. A further test with a digital test kit that I trust more, obviously, proves this to be incorrect but, still, it is kind of worrying. I bet I could recreate this result on freshly mixed saltwater.

How About Nitrate Tests?

But what about nitrate? Well, performing an API Nitrate test, quickly followed by a Salifert nitrate test so the two results would be ready at exactly the same time. My API test result is over double the Salifert. Again, depending on your monitor or device, this will look a bit off and may not reflect what I actually witnessed so you will have to take my word for it.

As it stands, I actually have an accurate measure of the nitrates in this aquarium from a Hanna checker and they are 13PPM. As you may be able to see and was very obvious to me. The Salifert kit is, basically, spot on. It is slightly darker than the 10PPM range on the colour chart. Checking on a photo editing software, it is significantly lighter than the 25PPM shade and only slightly darker than the 10PPM shade.

The API test, on the other hand, is far darker than the 10PPM colour range. Again, the way I have the vial laid on the chart throws things off a little bit as the colour isn’t as dense. Visually, however, this was close to the 40PPM range. A significantly different reading from both of the prior tests and a very good example of how two different tests can differ wildly.

Check or Change Your Ammonia Test Kit

This begs the question, is it me? Am I performing the test wrong. Well, perhaps I am but, if that is the case, what hope is there for a beginner? I am an experienced marine aquarium owner that has tested my water thousands of times.

I have decent equipment for cleaning and mixing and my methods always produce accurate results with my other kits. When it comes to API, however, I still can’t get it right following the instructions to the letter. Surely this is a problem in the test kit itself. Tons of other users share my experience and only a few are obnoxiously vocal about how it is the user’s fault and the test kit is perfect.

If you are receiving consistently positive ammonia test results that refuse to go down. Check your test kit. Make sure it is in date, check the reviews to see what other people’s experiences are, and maybe consider changing kit. You can even take your water sample to your local fish shop who will test it for you; likely with better equipment. Your stalled cycle may just be down to a bad test kit. If another kit shows that you still have ammonia, then click right here to find out why. Thanks for reading and spending your time at Simple Reefs.