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Which de-chlorinator do you use--and why? Once you are using that brand of de-chlorinator which tests kits are OK to use with it?
I got back into the hobby about 2 years ago. I picked up some API brand de-chlorinator because someone had told me that it doesn’t interfere with the API test kit tests i.e. give a false positive. In the course of reading this forum I see a lot of the experienced hobbyists leaning towards Seachem Prime and or Kordon AmQuel+Plus (and or a carbon bottle/snake—which I’ll leave out of this discussion). I recently picked up some Seachem Purigen. As part of the info it warns that some slime coat enhancers may permanently foul the Purigen. I posted a question in one of the recent Purigen threads and got some answers. As part of the directions straight from Purigen, after recharging the Purigen in bleach and rinsing it out, you soak it in a high dose of Prime—so no conflict there. So I went and got a large bottle of Prime as I prepare to delve into the land of “magic beans”. In reading through tunedis’s current tank issues it was mentioned that certain de-chlorinators throw off certain tests. I’m assuming it’s just the ammonia tests? So I’ve done a little peliminary reading here
“...AmQuel+ is compatible to use with all water quality test kits except for the ammonia test kit that uses Nessler reagents that read in shades of amber or yellow, and the oxygen test kit that uses Winkler reagents. Residual AmQuel+ and its reaction products are incompatible with the Nessler-and Winkler type reagents, resulting in false, high ammonia and low oxygen concentration readings. Ammonia test kits using salicylate-type reagents are appropriate for accurate test results. Any oxygen test kit other than those using Winkler`s method is compatible with AmQuel+.”
And here http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/Prime.html
“A Nessler based kit will not read ammonia properly if you are using Prime®... it will look "off scale", sort of a muddy brown (incidentally a Nessler kit will not work with any other products similar to Prime®). A salicylate based kit can be used, but with caution. Under the conditions of a salicylate kit the ammonia-Prime complex will be broken down eventually giving a false reading of ammonia (same as with other products like Prime®), so the key with a salicylate kit is to take the reading right away. However, the best solution ;-) is to use our MultiTest: Ammonia™ kit... it uses a gas exchange sensor system which is not affected by the presence of Prime® or other similar products. It also has the added advantage that it can detect the more dangerous free ammonia and distinguish it from total ammonia (which is both the free and ionized forms of ammonia (the ionized form is not toxic)).”
Which I’m assuming includes my API Freshwater ammonia test which reads from yellow to gradually dark green? So short of only using test kits from the same manufacturer as your de-chlorinator—which test kits for ammonia are compatible with Prime and or AmQuel+Plus? Are the non-Nessler/salicylate kits all using the dry reagents?
Does anyone have issues using a Kordon kit to test for ammonia with water using Prime for instance?
I’m to the point of about being fed up with API’s test for nitrate (I’m going to start a separate thread for nitrate test recommendations once I post this one so hold your thoughts on that for a minute)
Do you have a preference for AmQuel+Plus over Prime and or other brands of de-chlorinators if so why? Is the optimum solution when using Purigen (and you are bothering to re-use it), to just use Prime at the end of the re-charge, then soak, then use Amquel+Plus and the fancy Seachem gas exchange sensor system as your ammonia test? That’s what I’ve muddled out so far. Other ideas, thoughts?
I got back into the hobby about 2 years ago. I picked up some API brand de-chlorinator because someone had told me that it doesn’t interfere with the API test kit tests i.e. give a false positive. In the course of reading this forum I see a lot of the experienced hobbyists leaning towards Seachem Prime and or Kordon AmQuel+Plus (and or a carbon bottle/snake—which I’ll leave out of this discussion). I recently picked up some Seachem Purigen. As part of the info it warns that some slime coat enhancers may permanently foul the Purigen. I posted a question in one of the recent Purigen threads and got some answers. As part of the directions straight from Purigen, after recharging the Purigen in bleach and rinsing it out, you soak it in a high dose of Prime—so no conflict there. So I went and got a large bottle of Prime as I prepare to delve into the land of “magic beans”. In reading through tunedis’s current tank issues it was mentioned that certain de-chlorinators throw off certain tests. I’m assuming it’s just the ammonia tests? So I’ve done a little peliminary reading here
“...AmQuel+ is compatible to use with all water quality test kits except for the ammonia test kit that uses Nessler reagents that read in shades of amber or yellow, and the oxygen test kit that uses Winkler reagents. Residual AmQuel+ and its reaction products are incompatible with the Nessler-and Winkler type reagents, resulting in false, high ammonia and low oxygen concentration readings. Ammonia test kits using salicylate-type reagents are appropriate for accurate test results. Any oxygen test kit other than those using Winkler`s method is compatible with AmQuel+.”
And here http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/Prime.html
“A Nessler based kit will not read ammonia properly if you are using Prime®... it will look "off scale", sort of a muddy brown (incidentally a Nessler kit will not work with any other products similar to Prime®). A salicylate based kit can be used, but with caution. Under the conditions of a salicylate kit the ammonia-Prime complex will be broken down eventually giving a false reading of ammonia (same as with other products like Prime®), so the key with a salicylate kit is to take the reading right away. However, the best solution ;-) is to use our MultiTest: Ammonia™ kit... it uses a gas exchange sensor system which is not affected by the presence of Prime® or other similar products. It also has the added advantage that it can detect the more dangerous free ammonia and distinguish it from total ammonia (which is both the free and ionized forms of ammonia (the ionized form is not toxic)).”
Which I’m assuming includes my API Freshwater ammonia test which reads from yellow to gradually dark green? So short of only using test kits from the same manufacturer as your de-chlorinator—which test kits for ammonia are compatible with Prime and or AmQuel+Plus? Are the non-Nessler/salicylate kits all using the dry reagents?
Does anyone have issues using a Kordon kit to test for ammonia with water using Prime for instance?
I’m to the point of about being fed up with API’s test for nitrate (I’m going to start a separate thread for nitrate test recommendations once I post this one so hold your thoughts on that for a minute)
Do you have a preference for AmQuel+Plus over Prime and or other brands of de-chlorinators if so why? Is the optimum solution when using Purigen (and you are bothering to re-use it), to just use Prime at the end of the re-charge, then soak, then use Amquel+Plus and the fancy Seachem gas exchange sensor system as your ammonia test? That’s what I’ve muddled out so far. Other ideas, thoughts?
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