Why Your Ammonia Test Kit is Probably Lying to You!

Hello Fellow Fish Keepers,
In this video we talk about the importance of unionized ammonia in your fish tank and why your ammonia test kit isn't telling you the whole story. Below are a couple really good references that will help you calculate unionized ammonia:

For the latest in the fish room check us out on Instagram primetime_aquatics

Thanks for watching!

[PrimeTimeAquatics]

Want to know more about water parameters? Check out these videos!
Here is more information about water parameters. Definitely worth a look if you are trying to learn all you can about the subject!

[breese]

I've heard somebody talking about pH and temp affecting amonia toxicity, but I've never had it explained so well! Thank you!

[skylarstewart]

I've been having such a hard time trying to keep my ammonia at 0, its been constantly rising back up to .25ppm or so and driving me crazy! The fish never seemed bothered and it puzzled me and now I know why, the calculation says the true level is negligible. Thank you for the peace of mind!

[BeansAndBullets]

Dude, nerd on brother, I'm learning so much from your channel. Nerds for the win!

[MamboGuy]

Growing up I feel like keeping fish was never this complicated. I had a couple Pacu for 5-6 years and I never did one water test.

[darrylmoore]

I wish videos (like this)existed 30 years ago when I started in the hobby. Your channel is such a great resource to all of us in the hobby, because no matter how long you have been doing this sometimes it is good to get a second opinion.

[coolmountaineer]

Bamm!!!
API showing 1.0 in my QT was driving me crazy!
7.7PH 25C = 0.028 makes way more sense!
Thanks
bud!

[veronicapachecoalbornoz]

Thanks for the good information! As a wildlife biologist it drives me crazy when people in the hobby explain things but doesn’t give you the full picture or explain the whys! I love your channel! I almost don’t watch anything else about fish keeping but your videos!! Still struggling with my first tank cycle but having patience. Thanks!!

[crystalc]

I have been in a panic about ammonia in my tank doing water changes and never testing 0. Using the calculator was very enlightening. Turns out it was only .0005 ppm. These companies need to do a better job of explaining on the packaging what the ammonia is actually testing! I have been doing unnecessary water changes. Thank you for educating me!

[chelsea]

I'm new to fishkeeping, and had quite a shock when I tested my tap water and my API test kit read 0.5ppm of ammonia. Apparently my city adds ammonia to long pipelines to keep the water sanitary. Thanks to this video I know that's actually about ~0.02ppm of the toxic stuff. I was much relieved. Thank you!!

[mealston]

Wow...probably one of the most important uploads for the Aquarium Hobby. Thank You Most Kindly!

[beep]

I cannot stress enough to you how informative this video has been. I by chance i suppose, set up a pretty dark blackwater aquarium for my Betta, because I knew they liked the tannins and I think blackwater aquariums are beautiful and have diligently kept him nice and warm. Every time i test for ammonia it stresses me out, All the other parameters are fine, my fish is alert and happy, the tank is booming with growth, so I decided to leave it be, not really sure of why he seemed to be thriving. But i'm cycling him a new tank (a bigger one, because I adore him) and I'm trying to check for the ammonia levels when I came across this video. I feel like i understand so much more about the balance of the aquariums now, thank you.

[tiffanywilliams]

I know this is an old video but I am getting back into the hobby after many years away & it is so helpful along with everything else yall post. Thank you so much.

[alyssasandhoff]

This is the most helpful video I’ve watched for a long time. This gave me so much peace of mind as my total ammonia has remained at 0.25 ppm for quite some time now. However, My UIA is quite low. I’m so happy to have learned this. Thank

[Rapha]

Bloody great explanation. I've been keeping adult fancy goldfish for the past 5 years in the same tank and i kept getting ammonia readings of 0.25-0.50ppm and burned to different kinds of test kits. No wonder all my fish survived these past 5 years.

[victoriaolender]

I've never had this really explained to me in detail, just bits and pieces like if your ph is lower than 7.0, ammonia is in its less toxic form. Never have I seen a tool to actually calculate UIA, so thank you very much for providing that. I can see why companies might want to make test kits to calculate total amounts, as this would be very difficult for new or inexperienced fishkeepers to understand. I love that there is so much science to go along with fishkeeping, but it does take a LOT of time, research, and trial and error to begin to understand how your aquarium functions. I feel like every time I stumble upon one of your videos a new door opens up and I love that feeling of discovering something new about my aquarium! You are very articulate and being able to explain complicated topics in a straightforward way is truly a wonderful skill!

[squanchy]

Great video, I once read an article about this topic but it wasn't described nearly as well as in your video.
I also like how you stuck to the relevant topic and kept it short and simple. A lot of people will post a long video mostly rambling about fishkeeping, which isint necessarily bad but sometimes you just want the important info. Thanks!

[coelha]

Thank you so much!! I’ve been driving myself crazy because my ammonia tests always come up positive. Everything else I’ve read said it’s super dangerous and all my fish are about to die, so I’ve been breaking my back and bank account buying SO many products to fix it and doing many frequent water changes just to still see it test positive for ammonia, even though my fish don’t look sick/distressed. After watching your video everything makes sense now! You just saved my sanity!! 😂

[chocolatelily]

Thank you so much for including both Fahrenheit and Celsius! Save me so much calculating!

[benogrady]

Iv watched many blogs on this subject and I really have to say this was the best ! Many thanks