Ammonia Alert

This is the best purchase I've made for my axolotl, it just hangs in the tank all the time and constantly tests the water. When I do water refills or changes it tells me how bad it gets and I can correct it. It's super ez to just stick onto the tank, tiny too. My only issue was with it no longer wanting to stick (bc my axolotl knocked it down too many times and drug it through the dirt) but the tester itself would still tell me if the water is safe or not. It's totally worth the money!

A must-have for every reefer. The Ammonia Alert badge is highly sensitive to changes in ammonia levels. You can easily see the colors change as ammonia accumulates and, if you dose a product such as Seachem Prime, you can visualize the ammonia levels return to normal. Having this in your sump or QT tank is essential. It will alert you of any issues such as bacteria die-offs or any potential decomposing matter in your tank. Highly effective and cheap.

I was so worried about purchasing this ammonia reader due to the amount of bad reviews. However, after doing tons of research and deciding to purchase it after all, I realized that a lot of the negative reviews were because people weren’t quite understand just exactly how the Ammonia Alert operates. It measures the amount of unionized (dangerous) levels of ammonia in the water, whereas test kits measure both the ionized (safe) and unionized (unsafe) ammonia present in the water. Therefor, the only reading you’re getting on the Ammonia Alert is that of the toxic ammonia present in your tank. This product definitely works. A few days ago, the reading on it was at the ‘Alert’ mark, which it turned a pastel green. Then, when I checked it today, it was a pastel yellow and definitely matched the ‘Safe’ zone on the wheel. Even though the color readings can be extremely subtle, they’re pretty easy to pick out when it changes. I also compared its reading with a quick test from the API ammonia test kit, to which it came back with 0 ammonia in my aquarium. Another thing I must add is that you MUST be extremely careful when you open up the product. When you remove the plastic covering for the sensor in the middle of the color wheel, do not touch the sensor with your fingers. The oils from your fingers could affect or ruin your sensor. Overall, I’m extremely pleased with this simple and cheap product. It will assure me that my fish are living well and I can take necessary action when it goes into the ‘Alert’ zone. I definitely recommend the Ammonia Alert if you’d like to monitor your aquarium’s ammonia levels while avoiding frequent water testing.

It's extremely slow at detect ammonia presence, by the time it reads at 0.02ppm ammonia level is actually over 0.5ppm, and the only reason I discovered this is because I was skeptical, so I tested my water to find out that the ammonia level was at over 2ppm, and I immediately put in my bacteria to start the cycle. It took this thing till the following day to read 0.05ppm, so who knows how long the ammonia was present in my tank before this thing detected it. It read 0.02ppm for like 4 days before I decide to test the water my self, then an extra day after that to read 0.05ppm. Thanks to this unreliable thing my tank cycle took longer than if I had just let my tank cycle naturally. I tested the ammonia levels on my tank regularly, because I no longer trusted this thing. The ammonia in my tank was decreasing, but this thing continued to read 0.05ppm. When my ammonia levels went to 0.00ppm this thing was still reading 0.05ppm. It took it another 2 days from when I got a zero reading with the other tests kit for this thing's reading to fall to 0.02ppm. then I lost count to how many days it stayed at 0.02ppm before I just took it out of my tank and tossed it in the garbage, it must've been like 4 days. And I continued to test my water, because this thing kept making me thing the ammonia probably crept back up, sense it wouldn't go down to zero. I knew it was slow, but I thought it should eventually catch on. Seeing it not go to zero kept making me think there was probably ammonia present, and I would test, but nothing. Eventually I got fed up with it after like 4 days or so and tossed it. I don't think this thing was ever going to read zero, and by the time it directed no ammonia present, my tank would already be building ammonia, and who knows how long it would take this thing to detect it. If I would really on this thing for my ammonia readings to determine when I should do my water changes I would probably loose live stock by the time it detects toxic ammonia levels. Do not rely on this thing for water changes, and when cycling a tank, it will deceive you. Mater fact stay away from it all together, you will regret buying it if you do.

We bought this to keep track of the ammonia in our quarantine tank and then moved it to a new tank we were starting. It has been very useful to watch the levels of the water and keep track of the levels. The only problem is that sometimes it is hard to tell exactly what the color is and when it is starting to change. It’s a good price and has been helpful to us!

I have one of these in every aquarium I own and highly recommend them. They make life SO much easier, being able to tell at a glance if there is an Ammonia problem in the tank. I have 6 badges, all are accurate. (Full disclosure....there are two that usually read just a little bit darker than the others when all are tested in the same tank, not enough to make a difference, not enough that the fishes lives are endangered because the badges aren't alerting to the presence of NH3. These do NOT eliminate the need for routine water testing, they're just a quick and easy way to closely monitor for the presence of ammonia without having to drag out the test kit. I will NEVER again have an aquarium (or a fish bowl, for that matter) without one of these little Ammonia Alert badges! NOTE - It's important to point out that this badge ONLY measures NH3 ("free ammonia"), the toxic form of ammonia. It does NOT register NH4 (ammonium), the nontoxic form. On the other hand, the API Master Test Kit, which many aquarium enthusiasts use, including me, registers BOTH forms of ammonia in their test, and there is no way for the user to know how much of the ammonia registered is NH3 and how much is NH4. (To be fair, API does have a separate test that will distinguish between NH3 & NH4, but I think I've used it once, maybe twice, since I got it over a year ago because it's a fussy pain in the patoot to use!) I have had times when the badge did not agree with the API test, not often, but it has happened where the API test showed higher presence of ammonia in a tank, and I have no doubt it was because NH4 was present and registered by API. It may also account for some of the negative reviews this badge is getting because it can appear to be inaccurate when compared to other tests. Rather than being a negative aspect, the fact that this badge ONLY registers NH3 is one of the things I like most about it. If it's reading 0, I feel confident that the ammonia level in that tank is okay. If the badge is showing the presence of ammonia, I KNOW it's the toxic form and, if I like my little creatures, I better tend to it toot-sweet!

My opinion. It should be essential to have it, more so if you are beginning in the fish keeping hobby. I have two, and will get more for other fish tanks I have. Set your expectations right, and you will find this item very useful. what IT DOES. it gives you an idea of ammonia getting to high levels. it is not precise, but it can easily tell you when to do the actual testing to see if the ammonia is high. it is in the aquarium all the time, so constant reading is a great thing to have. Easy to use and understand. you do not have to study a lot to know that when this thing changes color, it is time to check your aquarium. you may have a spike out of your regular water changes schedule, and not know if you don't have anything to tell you. what it DOES NOT DO. It does not replace water changes or tells you when to do one. keep a regular water change schedule. it does not replace testing the water. You still have to test your water. it is not as precise as liquid test kits. This is to alert you to take action. You still need your water test kit of some kind. NOTE: If you get a low reading and move it to an aquarium with high reading, it will show in minutes. if you get a high reading and move it to another aquarium with low reading, it will show in hours and hours. some people say 4 hours, but I believe it takes more to lower its color reading. just get one per aquarium and this will not be a problem. when it shows a high reading, do a test, if you own a test kit. that way you will know exactly what is going on and get a more accurate reading. DO NOT TOUCH the color reading in the middle. they say that everywhere and it's for a reason. I hope this is useful.

DrTim's Aquatics One & Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria for Cycling Aquaria, Fresh Water, 2-Ounce If you are using Dr. Tim's One and Only, then you absolutely need this ammonia detector. Basically I am assuming that most people will get the API test kits (Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate), put the Dr. Tim's One and Only into the tank, put in fish, treat your water with some water conditioner, and then test with the API test kits. And just like me, you will be horrified when you start getting readings of 1.0, 2.0, or even 4.0 ppm of ammonia in the tank and you start running around thinking your fish are going to die. Now I've had this same experience with both reef and freshwater tanks. At first I totally thought Dr. Tim's didn't work, but I did enough investigation to figure out what was happening. Basically, without getting into too much detail, what is causing the problem is both the water conditioner that you are using and the API test kit (specifically the test for Ammonia). Basically most water conditioners nowadays have included an ammonia removing agent in the conditioner, but what it really does is convert the toxic form of ammonia into a non-toxic form of ammonia. Now this is bad first of all because ammonia is needed for your filtering bacteria to grow in your tank, but it's also bad because the API test kit for ammonia DOES NOT DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN TOXIC AND NON-TOXIC AMMONIA. So you will be getting readings of HIGH ammonia and think that Dr. Tim's is not working and that your fish are going to die. But at the same time, when you measure Nitrite, you see 0ppm and you may even see Nitrates. It is impossible to see Nitrate unless ammonia and nitrites are being effectively processed by the Dr. Tim's, but again, I'm getting too technical. So basically why do you need this ~$8 ammonia alert? This little dial DOES DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN TOXIC AND NON-TOXIC AMMONIA. Just recently I started a new freshwater tank with Dr. Tim's One and Only and had used Stress-Coat+ because I added new fish. I tested ammonia with the API ammonia test and it said 2.0 ppm of ammonia, which should mean that my fish are burning to death. But I put this ammonia alert in and I get 0.05. Honestly for like ~$8, this is totally worth the piece of mind. Just get it. I do not work for Dr. Tim's or Seachem and no one gave me this product for free. I just had so much stress from trying to figure this out that I thought I would post this and hope that it saves many a worries!

Really liked this product for a ‘not super experienced yet’ aquascape wannabe. Feel I can check easily for the ammonia potential in the tank now and be confident to trust this little tool for keeping my tank safe and healthy.

Produto perfeito para acompanhar a amônia no aquário de forma prática e contínua. É fácil de usar, discreto dentro do aquário e dá muito mais segurança no monitoramento da qualidade da água, especialmente em montagens novas ou com animais sensíveis. Para mim, é um item essencial e vale muito a pena.

J'étais un peu sceptique mais à tort. Je l'ai acheté pour trouver le bon rythme de renouvellement de l'eau de l'aquarium et les indications m'ont été d'une grande aide. Je ne sais pas combien de temps cette plaquette sera efficace mais moi qui suis complètement débutante avec mon simple poisson, cela m'a donné un fameuse aide au lancement. D'ici quelques mois peut-être n'aurais-je plus besoin d'en racheter, je saurai par exemple que tous les 10 jours, il est temps d'agir. En bref, cette plaquette m'a donné un peu de confiance et je remercie cette marque rien que pour cela. Et il y a bien une modification de couleur visible au fur et à mesure que les jours passent. Je recommande ce produit pour les débutant(e)s comme moi.

This is a durable product which was stable in the tank for 2 months now. Will buy again if needed. It was quite effective in data display as well

8 am happy to have it. It is a safe guard for my little aquatic friends. Some will say it doesn't work because their drop test gives an other result. I did my researches. The drop test shows results for Ammonia and Ammonium together. Ammonium isn't toxic bu ammonia is very. The sensor of Saechem react to only Ammonia not to Ammonium. It is an important thing to know.