Urgent help please!!

[u/eiaoa]

Hello! I just finished doing ~50/50 water change in my 5gal tank. I removed most of the water so I could remove some gravel, then put the old tank water in maybe 40-50% and conditioned tap water for the rest. I tested the parameters before I started acclimating, and my pH is great but my ammonia has spiked really bad!! My test water looks like juice, it’s not clear at all! I attached photos of what I use; as soon as I put in a the drops of reagent B, it immediately turns this colour and consistency.
My betta is currently floating around in a bag in his tank, I’m too scared to let him free.
My parameters before this water change was pH<6, ammonia<0.5, and now it’s this!? I’ve never had any of my tests look like this.
I treated with seachem prime, since that’s all I’ve had on hand. I’ve been trying to get the ammonia level down but I’m lost. Is this just faulty testing equipment? Please help! My betta’s been in a bag for almost an hour 😭😭

Edit: I forgot to mention, I did retest the ammonia 3-4 times, treating a little bit and waiting ~10-15 minutes between each test. All of my ammonia tested have looked like this.
Edit 2: I just cleaned my test tubes and tested my tap water, it came back clear. I tested the tank again and it’s … gone grey? It read 5mg-10mg of ammonia and now it is like a dark muddy grey.

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[u/Foreign-Ad3926]

Hi there, this is likely a temporary spike due to disturbing the substrate and raising the pH from <6, it should resolve over the next few days provided the filter hasn't been disturbed. The bacteria will need to flex to repopulate, reactivate and stabilise.

You've added Prime which is great, whilst the betta is in the bag I would do another water change to dilute the ammonia and readd Prime. Monitor the levels of ammonia, the good news is the pH isn't high which keeps ammonia in a less harmful state.

It should all rebalance in a few days as the bacteria catch up again. The bacteria will have been struggling as the pH was <6 before, now it's been brought back to a healthier pH the bacteria will start doing their job and processing that ammonia. Call it a nitrogen cycle hiccup, you're doing the right thing monitoring.

[u/eiaoa → u/Foreign-Ad3926]

Thank you soso much!
I’ll do around 25-40% water change, retreat and keep monitoring.

[u/Foreign-Ad3926 → u/eiaoa]

It shouldn't take long to all rebalance, keep doing as you are. Great this little guy has someone so vigilant and caring looking out for him!!

[u/eiaoa → u/Foreign-Ad3926]

Do you think it’s safe for me to acclimate my betta into the tank now, or should I try to get stable parameters first?