All You Need to Know About Ammonia
Animal waste, like dead fish, coral, crabs, and food that hasn’t been eaten, breaks down in a tank and makes ammonia. It is also a big part of fish waste, which they get rid of by pooping or breathing it out. A lot is too much for fish, reefs, and creatures to handle.
What is ammonia used for?
That’s what NH3 stands for in molecular terms. Nitrogen and hydrogen make it up. It is a biological process that both people and fish get from breaking down food. It comes out of the body as loose and mixed waste. It is also made when food that hasn’t been eaten and other biological matter break down.
Why does it matter?
When you start a new tank, the first thing you need to do is get rid of the ammonia. When ammonia is present, bacteria that fix nitrogen grow very quickly. These bacteria then turn the ammonia into nitrite. Other bacteria turn nitrite into nitrate. After that, either corals eat the rest of the nitrate, water changes, get rid of it, or filter media soaks it up.
Getting rid of the ammonia chain: Which number is best?
This process starts when the ppm level is 4 to 6 or more.
There is no ppm left in the end.
Normal tank activities and aquariums that have been cycled: 0 ppm
Things that can help you measure any people who keep aquariums don’t check for ammonia again until the level drops to zero, which happens after the tank has been cycled.
The Ammonia Test Kit is a normal test kit.
A kit to test for ammonia
A normal test kit is used most of the time to look for ammonia. It’s simple and cheap to use these tools. It can be hard to tell the difference between the colors of the samples, which is the worst thing about test kits. It’s simple and cheap to use test kits. The amount in your tank can be seen by how long you dip them in water and what color they turn.
Mobile Phone Checker: Your phone has a digital checker, which is a better and easier way to see how much ammonia you have. But they cost more than a test kit or test strip.
What Happens If We Don’t Stop The Ammonia?
Corals and fish can’t take ammonia at all. It starts to have affects right away, and if nothing is done soon, fish and coral will both die. It’s called gill burn, and it will make fish lungs red and swollen. Corals will also start to shrink and break down right away.
How to Keep Ammonia Levels in Check
If you cycle your saltwater tank the right way, ammonia quickly turns into nitrite and then into nitrate, which is no longer dangerous.
How to keep an ammonia level from rising:
If the tank isn’t already well-established, don’t add too many new fish at once. Slowly add the fish. Fish of different sizes make different amounts of trash and ammonia. A big, mean fish will make a lot more than a small fish.
Don’t eat too much. For two minutes, make sure the fish in the tank can eat all the food. Then, make sure the people who are cleaning up can easily handle any food that is still not eaten.
Cut down any coral, fish that are dead or dying, and big plants right away.
What should you do when the levels go up?
If there is more than 0.1 ppm of ammonia in the tank, you need to change 25% of the water right away. Once the water has been changed, you should try again to make sure the amounts are okay. If they are still very high the next day, you should change the water again. Even more will be lost if you add a source of live bacteria or a tank starter, such as Microbacter 7.
It is helpful to have a reef tank ammonia test on hand in case something terrible happens. Most reef tanks that have been around for a while don’t have spikes, but sometimes things can get out of hand without anyone noticing, and quick action is needed. To keep levels from getting too high, make sure you cycle your reef tank the right way and add new fish slowly.
