Parameters
Good day folks,
Recently had my water tested and learned that I really should have been using a water conditioner as our water had Chloramine (I was ill informed that it had Chlorine so was just letting it gas off).
These were the results from three days ago before using the API AQUA ESSENTIAL.
Nitrate 5 Nitrite 0 Ammonia 0.1 pH 7.6 KH 10 GH 180 Chloramine 0.8
The next day I cleaned out the filter and did a 10% water change. Then added some API QUICK START to bolster the beneficial bacteria. My LFS suggested that the high Chloramine levels would have wiped out all existing bacteria? Though subsequent reading suggests that it should have survived in the filter.
Had a retest done today and got the following results...
Nitrate 5 to 10 Nitrite 0 Ammonia 0.5 pH 7.6 KH 10 GH 180 Chloramine 0
Could the ammonia spike being seen here be because the API Master Kit (that looked like what my LFS were using) doesn't differentiate between NH3 and NH4?
As a precaution I retreated with the AQUA ESSENTIAL today. I'll probably go to the LFS again on Tuesday to check the parameters. No water change was done today, so no additional Chloramine treated.
The tank houses a number of Endler and Bladder Snails and has been set up for about 9 years.