2.5 ammonia reading straight out of tap water

[Goon]

i did a ammonia testing from tap water out of curiosity and i did this on multiple tube and all had the readings of 2.5 ammonia. not sure if i got a bad API master test kit or my water literally has ammonia in it. really concerning since i plan on ordering some discus this week, would be really great if anyone could give me some advice on whats going on

[atlantadiscus]

1st step is to get a different test kit and retest......hopefully that solves it right there and then.

[DJW]

It means that the city adds chloramine to the water. As long as you use Prime during water changes to detoxify it, you should be fine.

Chloramine is chlorine bound to ammonia. The API test is measuring the ammonia part of the chloramines.

I'm not sure, but 2.5 ppm of ammonia from chloramine seems abnormally high. Maybe some others with chloramine can tell you whether this amount can be handled by a single dose of Prime. I have read in older threads where people will use a double dose of Prime because their city adds more than the usual amount.

You might see a difference if you test it after adding Prime. To do this, you would put some water in a bucket and add Prime at 2 drops per gallon, which is the normal dose, stir it and wait 15 minutes. Then test for ammonia again.

[Goon]

i dont have a extra bucket so i used the test tubing and added very tiny droplet of prime and the results were kind of dark yellowish. on the test results yellow is considered 0 ammonia and lime green is 2.5 ammonia. so im thinking its between 0 and 2.5?