understanding ammonia

[ranmaru1987]

hi all.. stumbled across this website and chart for aquarium ammonia.. so next time before u panic and do lots of things which may screw up your water parameters take a look at this chart and see if your ammonia is really at toxic level or not.. as those test kits that we use measures total ammonia which is ammonia + ammonium and ammonia is the toxic one..

http://www.dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/AmmoniaTox.html

[kennedy]

thanks for sharing the link.

[Hershley]

Nice link on ammonia ... thumbs up for u

If you notice, it is virtually impossible to kill fishes with ammonia poisoning if you maintain a low ph of 6.5.

Although it is published that nitrifying bacteria starts dying at ph below 6, there are also studies that they continue to function even at a ph of 5. There are various strains of Nitrosonomas and Nitrospiria, a stable ph (even at low levels) allows them to grow and perform their function. Nevertheless a ph of 6 to 7 should be safe, taking into account also the fishes' requirements, some tend to be more comfortable at the lower ph range, eg SA fishes including PB, whereas others prefer a higher ph eg CAs.
As for xb, reds, the range of 6 to 7 is perfectly fine.

[Ryan Red]

yes, amonia toxis when temp and ph at certain lvl reading. thanks for putting this awareness. up you.

fish grow well also factor on certain ph, temp.

[ranmaru1987]

Yes.. It's true that with pH below 6.5 it's virtually impossible to kill a fish.. Bu one thing hobbyist tends to forget is that nitrite though less toxic han ammonia, gets more toxic with increased pH.. So is it best to keep pH at 7? Although we can decrease the toxicity of nitrite with 0.3% salt concentration..

P.S I tried to find a table for nitrite toxicity but to no avail..

[Ryan Red]

.
Nitrite harmful to fish cause when it go through the fish grill it convert to methemoglobin (less oxygen or taken away oxygen). trying to simplify as below extract info from web.

if am wrong please correct it.





Nitrite is an intermediate compound in the nitrogen cycle and is converted to nitrate by the Nitrobacter bacteria of a healthy biological filter. In a freshwater tank, levels above 0.05 parts per million (ppm) will likely be harmful to the fish. The problem is common during the "new tank syndrome" after the ammonia has been converted to nitrite by Nitrosomonas bacteria. This usually occurs between weeks one and two of a cycling biological filter.

Nitrite enters the fish by crossing the gill membrane. Problems arise because nitrite is capable of oxidizing (chemically changing) hemoglobin to methemoglobin in the bloodstream. This condition is known as methemoglobinemia and can be fatal since methemoglobin is an inefficient carrier of oxygen.

Very much thanks to Ranmaru1987 for sharing this article. It is very interesting indeed!