Ammonia Alert Stays Gray

[jerrybscott]

Update: Still no luck using Prime to lower my ammonia level. The Ammonia Alert has stayed grey. I tested the Ammonia Alert over a bottle of Windex and it immediately turned dark blue, so I assume the alert is working. I finally did a 50% water change. Withing 15 minutes my Ammonia Alert was yellow for Safe. It now has a slight green tint to it. Any idea why Prime did not lock up the ammonia so the indicator would show yellow? I used double and triple doses for about 5 days with no change on the Ammonia Alert.


Hi,

I have a SeaChem Ammonia Alert that I placed in my 20 gal aquarium about a week ago. The center color was yellow out of the package. After placing in the aquarium it slowly changed to a gray color and has not moved from that color. My aquarium is only about 4 weeks old. My test kit indicated an ammonia level of 2.0 ppm so I did a water change which dropped it to about .5 ppm. I went and purchased some Seachem Stability and Prime. Yesterday I added 2 capfuls of Prime and 2 capfuls of Stability. Today I added 1 capful of Prime and 1 of Stability. My ammonia alert still shows gray ( and did not change through all of this) and my test kit indicates ammonia at between .5 and 1.0 ppm.

Is the Stability and Prime not working? Why does the Ammonia Alert not change back to yellow instead of gray (which does not match any of the indicator colors by the way)? Any suggestions on how to get the ammonia down to a more safe level? Or is this level OK?

I suspect my tank has not yet cycled. Other tests indicate < .5 ppm nitrites and 20 ppm nitrates. Any suggestions are welcome as I am new to this.

P.S. I have 2 mollies, 2 platies and about 20 newborn (3 days old) mollies.

[Tech Support GL]

The grey color indicates that the test has read ammonia in
your system. You do not need to keep adding Prime
everyday because it has a binding effect that last 48 hrs.
The response to decreasing ammonia levels is slower to show with the alert. You can place the Ammonia Alert in water and acid solution (like a little vinegar and water) and it should go back to safe in an hour or so and then place it back in the tank to give a tank reading.

[Naja002]

Traditionally, Prime has only been "Available" in a system for 24hrs. Is the 48hrs new info?

Need to know this--I use a lot of Prime....

Thanx!

[Tech Support GL]

Nothing about Prime has changed. We were able to do more accurate testing with Prime and find that Prime would bind for 48 hrs.