The Effects Of
Dechlorinator On Ammonia Readings One little "gotcha" lurking in the
wings which is frequently missed by new ponders is the effect of certain
declorinators on ammonia readings. An ammonia test conducted when declor is
present will show incorrect readings. Water with no ammonia whatever may test
positive for ammonia. Conversely, water with high ammonia levels can read as
ammonia-free. My advice is to use a declorinator which is compatible with your
ammonia test. Which are compatible? The only two I've had any luck with are
AmQuel (which, in my humble opinion is the only first-rate declorinator on the
market) and a salicylate-type ammonia test kit (Tetra Pond). There will still
be a bit of interference, but its negligible.
If you want to see if you
have compatibility problems with your particular test kit, run a brief test, as
follows:
- Step 1: Fill a five gallon bucket with tap water. Test this
untreated water. Keep this test sample as your untreated reference. It should
show no ammonia.
- Step 2: Add declor to the bucket at the recommended dose. Test this
water and compare it to Step #1. If there isn't any difference in color or
turbidity (ie, no "haze" is present compared to the treated sample), continue
below.
- Step 3: Add 10 drops of household ammonia to the bucket. Stir well
and test. If this sample shows positive and doesn't have any unusual haze,
you've got a winner.
If your ammonia test kit fails any of the above steps, don't expect even
remotely accurate results. Find another test kit.
Reproduced with
kind permission from
www.click2roark.com