# Api Ammo Lock



## iamdixen (Jul 19, 2011)

Hey guys noob here, i'm having trouble with my water condition and would like some expert advice. Last week I had 0.25 ammonia reading in my water. A friend of mine told me about ammo lock, so off to the LFS I did. I bought one and followed the instructions and waited a couple hours and tested the water. I was so surprised because the ammonia level were off the charts. I've researched that ammonia will still show but that ammonia will be the harmless form. How do I know if i still have harmful ammonia in my fish tank and is there way to bring it back to "normal" (i guess) so that when I test the water the "harmless ammonia" will not be read?

BTW The fish seem to be normal and happy and not acting weird, tired or stressed.


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## MissPisces (Jun 8, 2011)

Hi, and welcome to the forum! 

When cycling a tank, you're going to see some ammonia. The spike in ammonia that you experienced might have been THE spike. Did you test the ammonia right before adding the AmmoLock? If not, then it might have spiked before you added it. That's the most likely scenario. If it's spiked, then that means it will lower soon and then nitrites will spike. 

You don't have to worry; none of that ammonia is harmful. Actually, it has been converted to ammonium. This form of ammonia is not toxic to fish, yet it's edible to bacteria. There is no way to not pick it up on a test, unfortunately. Just wait a day or two before testing again. If the ammonia is higher, or if it's still high, then I'd do a 25% water change. Water changes will help with high nitrites, too. 

Hope I've eased your mind a bit, and good luck! 

EDIT: Oh, one more thing. If you're using a test strip as opposed to a liquid test, your readings are likely to be off a bit. For accuracy, liquid is the way to go.


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

High ammonia levels are normal during cycling. If you are not cycling you are probably over-feeding or you have a death in your tank. Check your tap water to make sure it doesn't have Ammonia in it. The harmless form of Ammonia is the ion (NH4+). The dangerous form of Ammonia is the dissolved gas (NH3). When your ph is high you get much more Ammonia in the form of NH3.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Agreed with the above 2 posters!

Also, if your tank is fully cycled, you shouldn't need Ammo Lock or other chemicals like that. I used AmQuel Plus before going on vacation, but that was in a newly cycled tank, with new fish. I wasn't going to be home to do a large PWC if the ammonia spiked, so I dosed with AmQuel to hold it over until I got home again. Other than that... you really shouldn't need chemicals to keep ammonia down.

If you are cycling, using chemicals like that will stall the cycle. If the cycle is done and you are needing the chemicals, there is something wrong in the tank - like Neon said - possibly a dead fish, over feeding or over stocking.


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