Ammonia Test Kit...Faulty??

jfigueroa · #1 03-04-2008, 11:36

Hey guys, once again, I need some help.

My ammonia kit is not showing any results. It gives a 0 free ammonia reading, even though my Red Sea test says I have 0.021.

Anyway, I tried doing the reference test and it didn't give me a reading either! The sensor never changed color.

This is the funny part, the only time the sensor changed color was when I did a total ammonia test. But even then, the sensor only changed a quarter of a quarter of its size in one corner, I had to really look for it.

BTW I did the reference test with the reference liquid. Didn't give me a result at all.

Is my kit bad? should I return it to where I bought it? (doctor foster & smith)

Thanks for the help.

Tech Support LK · #2 03-05-2008, 14:09

We are the only company that makes a test kit that distinguishes between free and total ammonia. So, the reason you did not get a reading from our test kit when you ran a free ammonia test is because there was no free ammonia present. The Red Sea test kit measures total ammonia so that is why you got a reading off of this test kit and not ours. If you read the directions for running the reference test, you will see that you can only run a reference test using the total ammonia method, not the free ammonia method. As far as the sensor only turning a color on one small area, this is probably because you have such a low ammonia level. With this low of a level, you will need to run the test for 30 minutes rather than 15 minutes to see a more sensitive reading.

jfigueroa · #3 03-05-2008, 23:17

I did wait for 30 minutes on both the free & total ammonia tests.
The free ammonia still did not show anything, but the total ammonia showed an ammonia level of 0.3.

I have to admit that I did not runt the reference test following the total ammonia steps, but I tried it again and it did work.

But I'm still trying to understand this: if the total ammonia has been detected by the kit, shouldn't the free ammonia be detected as well?

Doesn't "total" ammonia mean "all" ammonia present?

Please explain. Thanks.

Tech Support LK · #4 03-06-2008, 09:13

The ammonia is not free......Total ammonia is a combination of free and bound ammonia. If it picked up a reading on the total ammonia test and not on the free, then the ammonia is not free.

jfigueroa · #5 03-06-2008, 11:08

Got it. Thanks for the help.

Tech Support LK · #6 03-06-2008, 11:26

You are welcome.