Seachem Product Spotlight 3 – Ammonia and PH Alerts

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As part of our focus on our newest brand – Seachem, we thought we’d highlight our new favourite! As part of their ‘Alert Series’, the clever people at Seachem have produced these little pieces of magic.

Seachem

No testing, no dripping drops into bottles, no dipping of strips, just constant ongoing supervision of your aquarium water. Not just when you want to get all your kit out (test kit, that is!), every single one of the 365 days they last for*

*PH Alerts are available in both 3-6 month and 12 month duration

Ammonia Alert

0010-ammonia-alertAmmonia Alert® is an innovative colour device for continuously detecting and monitoring toxic free ammonia. A sensor changes reversibly from yellow to green to blue, relative to the ammonia concentration.  The device detects less than 0.05 mg/L (ppm) free ammonia and alerts you to the #1 killer before any sign of stress. It lasts over a year. Marine or freshwater use.

In the absence of free ammonia the unit will assume a yellow or faint yellow-green colour. It is normal for the dry sensor to have a greenish hue. It may take up to a few days for a dry sensor to equilibrate with the water.

No sampling of water, chemicals, or test procedures are required. The presence of the free ammonia is detectable continuously with a response time of about 15 minutes. Response to decreasing ammonia is slower, requiring about 4 hours to go from TOXIC to SAFE on removal of ammonia.

Ammonia Alert® lasts over 9 times as long as competing products (over a year compared to 4-6 weeks). Ammonia Alert® is also almost half the size of competing products (1.5″ x 2.5″).

It’s small, clear, and unobtrusive, so it won’t detract from the view of your aquarium.

Display

As little as 0.02 mg/L of free ammonia will produce a greenish hue on the detector surface. This corresponds to a total ammonia (both ionised and free ammonia) of 0.25 mg/L in marine water at pH 8.3. In freshwater at pH 7.0, this corresponds to 3.6 mg/L total ammonia. Free ammonia is much more toxic than ionised ammonia. As free ammonia, the ALERT colour corresponds to about 0.05 mg/L, ALARM to about 0.2 mg/L, and TOXIC to about 0.5 mg/L. The ALERT concentration is tolerated for several days, ALARM for a few days, and TOXIC is rapidly harmful.

For emergency ammonia removal, treat with AmGuard™. This product is not recommended for use at acid pH.

Care

No care is required beyond removing algae with a clean, soft material. Avoid touching the sensor with fingers, since skin oils can damage it. Do not use bleach, soap, detergents or hard objects to clean the sensor. Some dye medications may discolour the sensor. Sensitivity improves with age, provided the unit is not allowed to dry out, however, drying does not permanently impair the unit. For maximum sensitivity, the unit should be read under natural daylight or daylight simulating light. Red enhancing light minimises green and blue hues, decreasing the apparent sensitivity of the unit. The response of the unit may be checked by holding it briefly over the mouth of an ammonia bottle: colour should develop rapidly.

pH Alert

0020-ph-alertpH Alert® is a unique colour device designed to be placed in the aquarium or filter and monitor pH continuously. A sensor changes colour reversibly to alert you shifts to in pH levels between 5.4 and 8.0. No tests, no strips, just constant readings. Freshwater Only.

Directions

Simply place pH Alert® visibly anywhere in the aquarium or filter. It’s that easy. No chemicals or test procedures are required. When first put in service, response time will be about 30 minutes. Thereafter, pH shifts will register within ten minutes.

Care

No care is required beyond removing algae with a clean, soft material. Avoid touching the sensor with fingers, since skin oils can damage it. Do not use bleach, soap, detergents or hard objects to clean the sensor. Some dye medications may discolour the sensor. For maximum sensitivity, the unit should be read under natural daylight or daylight simulating light.

Both products are not just amazing, but accurate and couldn’t be any easier to use!

So, if ‘science does blind you‘ and you’re not just ready to pop on your lab coat and crack open your test kit, pop these in your aquarium for worry free monitoring.