Seachem Ammonia Alert? any good?

[Devaji108]

so I am still setting up my QT tank got some spunges in the sump of my now cycled DT for 3 weeks.

a few ppl suggested the ammonia alerts of the QT but they seam to have mixed reviews on amazon (no LFS with a few hundred miles)
so what is your experience with this product? I will also be doing liquid test as well.

 

[b0bab0ey]

Don't take the reading as gospel, but IMO it works pretty well. Your dilemma is if you ever have to treat with copper then you can't really trust the liquid test either, as copper will sometimes give you a false positive reading. In that case, you have to trust the Seachem badge and observe your fish closely for the initial signs of ammonia poisoning.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I like them and go through a lot of them in my QT They have a limited lifespan and I consider them a short-term, disposable item. . They will reveal ammonia with copper present---most test kits (Like API) won't.

 

[MuffsAbby]

I like them and have never had any "false readings". I use one on my QT and have one (just in case) on my DT, since it's only been set up for about 6 months. I also used them for years when I had freshwater tanks.

I haven't read the Amazon reviews, but it wouldn't surprise me if the negative reviews come from FW users. The badge measures free ammonia, whereas most tests measure total ammonia. In a SW tank (and unless you're using Prime/etc.), a toxic level of free ammonia generally means a toxic level of total ammonia, due to the high ph. That's not true in a FW tank where ph is often low, and the difference between free/total ammonia at different levels of ph sometimes causes confusion in FW users.

I also agree with the above posters. I don't fully rely on the badge (I also test every few days), and even though the badge says it's good for a year, I tend to change mine out a few times a year.

 

[Devaji108]

ok great that's what I thought would be the response, i'll order one today.

 

[snorvich]

I like them and go through a lot of them in my QT They have a limited lifespan and I consider them a short-term, disposable item. . They will reveal ammonia with copper present---most test kits (Like API) won't.

Exactly.

 

[Indymann99]

I find it works well for my QT. I do purchase NEW each time I Qt.

 

[jm23]

Not to revive an old thread, but I used the search function and found this. I have one on my QT, brand new, and it was all yellow. Well this morning I woke up and it was still all yellow, but I noticed my fish was breathing heavy and laying on its side. I did an API test and it showed .5 ppm of ammonia. Needless to say the 2 onyx clowns I have in QT will probably be a total loss. Just to see if the badge was not working I put another brand new badge in and it read the same, all yellow. I personally would not trust it.

 

[h2so4hurts]

.5ppm won't kill your clowns. Do a water change, get some ammolock, and if you're really desperate, throw some microbacter/Stability in there to try to decrease the cycle time.

 

[Triggerfish]

place it over a bottle of ammonia and see what happens..if doesnt turn blue then the thing is faulty.