Salt Raising Ammonia Levels ??? HELP

N

nick9050

I've tried 3 different salts and I keep having the same problem.

I can test my RO water and have 0ppm ammonia, once I add my salt, the levels spike to .50ppm and sometimes higher. Have 2 35 gallon mixing units that I fill with RO and then add my salt. It doesn't matter if I test it 2 seconds after mix or 2 weeks, it has the same effect.
Just to clarify, I am testing the fresh RO as freshwater (and have tested it as salt water) to make sure that I am being thorough.

I was using instant ocean reef crystals first
Then moved to regular instant ocean
Purchased a bucket of Kent last night and as of this morning, my first test gallon of mix is .50ppm I cant even perform a water change because my new water is worse than my tank.

I hate adding chemicals to reduce ammonias and my tank itself is generally at 0ppm but my nitrates are starting to raise so it's time for my water change and I can't do one
Any ideas ???
 
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-02/rhf/index.php

There are a variety of sources of ammonia in reef aquaria. Minor sources include: 1) tap water (especially if it contains chloramine and is not treated with a deionizing resin) and 2) impurities in salt mixes and other additives. It has previously been shown that the total NH4-N ranged from 0.55 to 11.9 micromole/kg (0.008 to 0.17 ppm total NH4-N) in an analysis of eight brands of artificial seawater mixes. At the higher end of the scale, those levels will be detected with an ammonia test kit and can present potential toxicity concerns if fish are kept at those levels (see below). These levels of ammonia may be introduced from impurities in calcium chloride and magnesium chloride, where ammonia is a well known impurity resulting from some of the commercial manufacturing processes used (such as the Solvay process, which involves ammonia).
 
I'd recommend you simply add Seachem's Prime to your water. 1 capful per 50g - the bottle will last you a year. I add it to my top off RO/DI water and the water I'm about to mix with salt. In Fort Worth, they are back to treating the water with chloramines. So I'm locking that stuff up so it won't hurt my livestock.
 
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