Ammonia in my mixed salt water

[thomas.torode]

Hello everyone!
I was mixing rodi water and saltwater for my Quarantine tank. I tested the water for giggles and it ready ammonia?! About 1.0ppm. Is it safe to even use this water for a quarantine? I tried instant ocean and redsea and they are both positive for ammonia. (My tank water is 0ppm) Is this normal?

[ajm83]

Seems to be normal, I've seen it with Fluval, iQuatics and RedSea.

[thomas.torode]

Seems to be normal, I've seen it with Fluval, iQuatics and RedSea.

Rip my new clownfish

[ajm83]

Huh? Did you put it in the water even though you knew it was reading 1ppm ammonia ?!



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[LuizW13]

Wait, why is it normal to have traces of ammonia in a fresh batch of saltwater?

[Barro777]

Well the one thing that comes to mind is that if your source water contains chloramine and your RODI filters aren't adequately removing it, then yeah you will get ammonia reading

[LuizW13]

Well the one thing that comes to mind is that if your source water contains chloramine and your RODI filters aren't adequately removing it, then yeah you will get ammonia reading

oh snap, i didn't know that. Hopefully the 5 stage ro/di kit i got will reject most of that out!

[heathlindner25]

Or a cheap Ammonia test kit with a false result .

[mcgyvr]

Seems to be normal, I've seen it with Fluval, iQuatics and RedSea.

No Its not normal..
Its indicative of your filters (carbon specifically) not doing its job anymore..
or a false test result...

[ajm83]

No Its not normal..
Its indicative of your filters (carbon specifically) not doing its job anymore..
or a false test result...My tap water has no ammonia or chloramine in it, my raw RODI water tests negative for ammonia yet tests positive after adding salt.

If it's from the RODI system then I don't understand how.

Could be a false result I suppose.

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[LuizW13]

My tap water has no ammonia or chloramine in it, my raw RODI water tests negative for ammonia yet tests positive after adding salt.

If it's from the RODI system then I don't understand how.

Could be a false result I suppose.

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Should you use a different test kit to see if that's what causing it, or perhaps contact the salt manufacturer to see if that is expected from their product?

[heathlindner25]

If I was concerned about ammonia I would definitely test my tester .

[ericarenee]

how many gallons of water from the ro/di unit were you testing.

I mean when i first start my Ro unit I Throw away the first 5-10 minutes worth of water. This water setting in the lines and filters is never clean.
So if you are making 5 gallons of water and you run 10 minutes worth of Bad water into the bucket then it slowly gets better and better with less tds and Chlorine you will get the result your getting.. Otherwise its likely your ro/di filters are spend or not configured properly.

Hope this help you get a better understanding. RO/DI Does not produce 0 tds water at drop 1..

[Joe0813]

So you tested your water and saw ammonia but you put in fish anyways? Good job

[tazzy695]

I would also question cleanliness of mixing bucket as it might have somthing causing ammonia

[ajm83]

I would also question cleanliness of mixing bucket as it might have somthing causing ammoniaIf that's to me, it's not the bucket since I tested the RODI in the same bucket before and after adding the salt.

I'm surprised nobody on here has seen the same thing, I have seen numerous threads about it.

E.g.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2190452

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1931710

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[thomas.torode]

Yea I just ordered a new one from Red Sea. I was using some cheap API from 2 years ago.

[tazzy695]

Now here is another question are u testing amonia in the ro water with the saltwater test kit if so it wont show accurately

[LuizW13]

If that's to me, it's not the bucket since I tested the RODI in the same bucket before and after adding the salt.

I'm surprised nobody on here has seen the same thing, I have seen numerous threads about it.

E.g.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2190452

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1931710

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From the second link:

"The industrial processes used to aquire the different chemicals used in salt mix utilize ammonia to extract them, hence you will find some levels of ammonia in the salt mixes."

Ammonia and the Reef Aquarium
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-02/rhf/index.php

"..some of the salt mix manufacturers do add products to their mix to help remove ammonia. Perhaps these products can be interfering with your ammonia test kit as is described by Randy in his article. You may want to call the salt mix manufacturer and ask them about this."

[thomas.torode]

From the second link:

"The industrial processes used to aquire the different chemicals used in salt mix utilize ammonia to extract them, hence you will find some levels of ammonia in the salt mixes."

Ammonia and the Reef Aquarium
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-02/rhf/index.php

"..some of the salt mix manufacturers do add products to their mix to help remove ammonia. Perhaps these products can be interfering with your ammonia test kit as is described by Randy in his article. You may want to call the salt mix manufacturer and ask them about this."

Wow that is disappointing. I would fuss up the money if it meant a completely safe QT tank. Guess I will have to draw from my display tank.

[thomas.torode]

Now here is another question are u testing amonia in the ro water with the saltwater test kit if so it wont show accurately

I test the RODI water and it's fine.

[scooter31707]

I test the RODI water and it's fine.

You didn't understand the question. Basically, he is asking if you tested your RO/DI water with API test kit which is for saltwater not fresh. There's 2 different kits for API, one for freshwater and one for saltwater. So he is saying it may not read accurate because of that.

[hkgar]

Salifert's test is listed as for fresh and marine.

[thomas.torode]

You didn't understand the question. Basically, he is asking if you tested your RO/DI water with API test kit which is for saltwater not fresh. There's 2 different kits for API, one for freshwater and one for saltwater. So he is saying it may not read accurate because of that.

oh. no I haven't.