Nitrate and Ammo

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by Rikko

Generally fresh tap water won't read any ammonia, but once the dechlorinator/dechloraminator touches it, the chloramine molecule is broken into chlorine (I think?) and free ammonia. NOW that ammonia will show up on a test.

Dechlorinators designed for use with chloramine (Amquel, Prime, etc) neutralizes the chlorine and converts toxic ammonia into non-toxic ammonium. Some test kits may still register the ammonium as if it were still ammonia on the test kit's colour chart, even though it is really ammonium.