Ammonia help

[Wildwhimsy]

Yesterday I did a 75 percent water change and cleaned my cannister filter for the first time. It was filthy. I just rinsed everything in the dirty water then put it all back together. I also trimmed and re planted a good bit of my plants. I replaced my water with distilled water that I had added shrimp mineral and apt 3 to. This morning I’m showing .25 ammonia on my api test. I’ve never had an issue with ammonia before and am curious how to proceed. Should I do another water change?

 

[Unexpected]

I wouldn't put too much peace of mind into these hobby test kits. That ammonia one always has some color to it. What's your pH?

 

[Wildwhimsy]

ph is 6.8ish. This is the first time I’ve had the ammonia test turn this color since I’ve been using it for a while.

 

[Unexpected]

At 6.8, I would just watch it. You can always do more water changes if worried. Sometimes, a big clean can disrupt the bacteria but it should resolve quickly.

 

[Scaper26]

Don’t worry, you inject CO2. It’s not a biggie as your pH below 7 and will likely drop much lower than 6.8 throughout the day.
Don’t let this discourage you from cleaning your filter though. As you clean them over time, the right type of microbes will colonize your filter and you won’t see this ammonia/ammonium spike in the future.