1. Nessler reagent type test kits, which are fine for fresh water, but give false readings in salted or salt water. It reads total ammonia and does not read thru bound ammonia to get an accurate free ammonia (the harmful ammonia as opposed to bound ammonia) reading,

2. Salicylate reagent type test kits, which are good for freshwater or saltwater. Again, these kits read total ammonia and do not read thru bound ammonia to give accurate, free ammonia only readings.

There are other kits/indicators that use a base of the Salicylate reagent along with some thing else (I am not sure what) to allow them to read thru (disregard) bound ammonia and read only free ammonia.

These would be the Ammonia Alert card by Seachem, the Multitest Free and Total Ammonia test kit by Seachem, the Mydor test kit (reads free ammonia only) and the LaMotte Salicylate test kit for use with Amquel. The latter is very expensive. When my water does not contain an ammonia binder, I use the AP Saltwater Master Liquid Test Kit. It is cheaper, just as good as the freshwater Master Pond Dry Tab Test Kit, you don’t have to do as much shaking (dissolving those tablets can be a pain), but has a higher range ph. Most Koi keepers have a ph that is above 7.4 anyway. This kit reads total ammonia and I use it when I haven’t used Prime in the water recently. It works in both fresh and salt water.

Here is what Seachem has to say about their Total and Free Ammonia Test Kit and other test kits in regards to testing and free ammonia. This kit measures total (NH3 and NH4+) and free ammonia (NH3 only) down to 0.05 mg/L and is virtually interference free in marine and fresh water. Free ammonia is the toxic form of ammonia (vs. ionized Ammonia NH4+ which is non-toxic) and thus it is much more important to keep an eye on the level of free ammonia in your system. This kit is based on the same gas exchange technology that is used in the Ammonia Alert* and thus is the only kit on the market that can read levels of free ammonia while using ammonia removal products such as Prime*, Safe*, AmGuard* and any similar competing products. The other kits (salicylate or Nessler based) determine the total ammonia by raising the pH of the test solution to 12 or greater. At this high pH all ammonia removal products will breakdown and re-release the ammonia, thus giving you a false ammonia reading. I know, this all seems to be the opposite of your problem. I have many people ask questions about the above stuff, but never your situation. I take my Koi to several Koi Shows throughout the year and always bag them with a little Amquel. Why Amquel if I am such a Prime fan? Well, almost all of the major shows use Amquel in the tank and I just don't like mixing chemicals or dragging a fish from one chemical to another. I just don't know what it will do. I also noted that you are using both Amquel and Prime and have used Stress Coat and Ammo-Lock. I believe I read somewhere that Ammo-Lock and Amquel are not a good combination. Besides, you are wasting your money using both products. Stick to either Prime or Amquel and try not to mix them. Maybe this is what is causing the false readings, I don't know. I will ask some more questions of Seachem first chance I get. I must say though that you are really throwing a lot of chemicals at those poor guys and they need a little break. A lot of water changes can be stressful also. That is why I stick to the Prime and overdose if I need to. It has not let me down to date.

Here is some more good info about the Ammonia Alert Cards. I called Seachem on the phone and spoke with one of their techs. He had several good things to say about the Ammonia Alert Card and it’s use. Here they are:

1. Don't put your fingers on the indicator button or it can throw it off and damage it.

2. If you used chemicals such as Methylene Blue or Malachite Green or Potassium Permanganate (hope I spelled all those right) they can stain the dot and make it look like a false reading. So take the card out when using chemicals that can stain.

3. Any test that reads "FREE AMMONIA" should agree with the Ammonia Alert Card readings. It must be a free ammonia test however and not a total ammonia test. I think we have already discussed the difference in these two.

4. If you think the card is not working, a quick way to test it is as follows:

a. Take the card out of the water for an hour or so till the reading is back to normal.

b. Once the reading is normal, open a bottle of household ammonia and hold the card over the top of the bottle (do not put it the card in any ammonia it self, it will react to the gases coming out of the bottle).

5. Life of a card is 8 month to a year and the shelf life of an unopened card is not limited.

6. If you had pulled the entire sensing dot off the card instead of just the cellophane cover, you would have a clear dot with no color.

7. Replacement sensor dots are available for the card if you do not want to buy the whole card when it expires or is damaged.

Want to get enlightened about water quality? Try this link to Norm Meck. Norm in my opinion is the guru of water quality and there is a lot of good information provided at his clubs site. This is a direct link to his water quality pamphlet followed by some links to information from manufacturers of test kits and pond products:

http://www.koiclubsandiego.org/H2oQual.html#Test_Kits http://www.kordon.com/kfaq.htm