what is pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrates and how can i che
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
what is pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrates and how can i che
help me please
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lisalisa
ok...wow..well, very VERY simply....fish produce waste (amonia) which a certain type of bacteria eats, and produces it's own waste (nitrIte) and another type of bacteria eats nitrIte and produces another waste (nitrAte). Ammonia and NitrItes are highly toxic to fish, and in an established aquarium should always read 0. Nitrate is less toxic, and should be kept as low as possible..>20. You can test these things by buying test kits at your local fish store (LFS). If your tank isn't 'cycled' (the term we use when all these things good bacteria are built up) you can by Bio-Spira to 'instant' cycle your tank....did that help at all? Anyone else care to chime in??
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ChesapeakeSwellfish
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Pufferpunk
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The Nitrogen Cycle:
1. fish/plants go in tank.
2. fish eats some food, lets some rot at the bottom. Parts of plants die off.
3. fish produce waste products, plant and food remains start to rot.
uneaten food, dead plant matter and waste form toxic ammonia.
4. toxic ammonia burns fish's gills, eyes, fins, skin, etc. (ammonia 8. burns).
5. ammonia devouring bacteria that occur naturally all around us colonize in the tank and begin feeding on the ammonia, and multiplying.
6. ammonia eating bacteria also has to relieve themselves, and its waste is what we call nitrItes. Nitrites are toxic to fish as well (it decreases oxygen levels in the fish's blood, causing the fish to suffocate).
7. other naturally occurring bacteria arrive and devour the nitrItes and multiply.
8. nitrIte eating bacteria also has to relieve themselves, and its waste is what we call nitrAtes.
9. live plants remove parts of this final product of the nitrogen cycle. Not enough to keep nitrAte levels at an acceptable level, so we perform weekly water changes to get rid of the rest of the nitrAtes.
For more info check our Library.
1. fish/plants go in tank.
2. fish eats some food, lets some rot at the bottom. Parts of plants die off.
3. fish produce waste products, plant and food remains start to rot.
uneaten food, dead plant matter and waste form toxic ammonia.
4. toxic ammonia burns fish's gills, eyes, fins, skin, etc. (ammonia 8. burns).
5. ammonia devouring bacteria that occur naturally all around us colonize in the tank and begin feeding on the ammonia, and multiplying.
6. ammonia eating bacteria also has to relieve themselves, and its waste is what we call nitrItes. Nitrites are toxic to fish as well (it decreases oxygen levels in the fish's blood, causing the fish to suffocate).
7. other naturally occurring bacteria arrive and devour the nitrItes and multiply.
8. nitrIte eating bacteria also has to relieve themselves, and its waste is what we call nitrAtes.
9. live plants remove parts of this final product of the nitrogen cycle. Not enough to keep nitrAte levels at an acceptable level, so we perform weekly water changes to get rid of the rest of the nitrAtes.
For more info check our Library.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
very useful info thanks.Pufferpunk wrote:The Nitrogen Cycle:
1. fish/plants go in tank.
2. fish eats some food, lets some rot at the bottom. Parts of plants die off.
3. fish produce waste products, plant and food remains start to rot.
uneaten food, dead plant matter and waste form toxic ammonia.
4. toxic ammonia burns fish's gills, eyes, fins, skin, etc. (ammonia 8. burns).
5. ammonia devouring bacteria that occur naturally all around us colonize in the tank and begin feeding on the ammonia, and multiplying.
6. ammonia eating bacteria also has to relieve themselves, and its waste is what we call nitrItes. Nitrites are toxic to fish as well (it decreases oxygen levels in the fish's blood, causing the fish to suffocate).
7. other naturally occurring bacteria arrive and devour the nitrItes and multiply.
8. nitrIte eating bacteria also has to relieve themselves, and its waste is what we call nitrAtes.
9. live plants remove parts of this final product of the nitrogen cycle. Not enough to keep nitrAte levels at an acceptable level, so we perform weekly water changes to get rid of the rest of the nitrAtes.
For more info check our Library.
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RTR
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I do agree with PP's scenario, but want to expand it by empasizing that nitrate is only one of the many waste products that we do water changes to remove. It just happens to be the one where the precursors are highly toxic and where the final product is easily measured by hobby kits, so we use it as a general indicator of pollution buildup in our tanks.
Where's the fish? - Neptune
lisalisa wrote:ok...wow..well, very VERY simply....fish produce waste (amonia) which a certain type of bacteria eats, and produces it's own waste (nitrIte) and another type of bacteria eats nitrIte and produces another waste (nitrAte). Ammonia and NitrItes are highly toxic to fish, and in an established aquarium should always read 0. Nitrate is less toxic, and should be kept as low as possible..>20. You can test these things by buying test kits at your local fish store (LFS). If your tank isn't 'cycled' (the term we use when all these things good bacteria are built up) you can by Bio-Spira to 'instant' cycle your tank....did that help at all? Anyone else care to chime in??
I think that is a typo.AM I right ? should say nitrate <20
Some call it a product of a mis-spent youth, I call it Rock n Roll ! 
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PetPirate
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For any potential puffer purchasers perusing this post (!):
Test kits for these are, in my opinion, the single best thing you can own when setting up a new tank for the first time. When you buy a new tank, filter, heater, substrate... add these tests into the cart while you're at it.
I still can't understand why so many pet stores allow first-time fishkepers to leave the stores without them.
Test kits for these are, in my opinion, the single best thing you can own when setting up a new tank for the first time. When you buy a new tank, filter, heater, substrate... add these tests into the cart while you're at it.
I still can't understand why so many pet stores allow first-time fishkepers to leave the stores without them.
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RTR
- Mentor
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- Location (country): East Coast, USA
I don't know the cultures in the rest of the world, but in the USA, trying to sell novices testing materials and convincing them to use such is a losing battle. It is somewhat related to the concept of adequate tank size, another non-starter. Only a tiny percentage of the people who set up tanks ever try to lean anything about them. Most operate them poorly for some period, store the failed tank for a period, then dump it during a garage sale.
This hobby has a very high recruitment rate, and a tiny retention rate. We are as nation a group who will not read the directions and have little or no desire, or more likely an adversion, to learning things not related to our income.
Those of use on sites such as this are the folk in that tiny minority of those who start tanks.
:6:
This hobby has a very high recruitment rate, and a tiny retention rate. We are as nation a group who will not read the directions and have little or no desire, or more likely an adversion, to learning things not related to our income.
Those of use on sites such as this are the folk in that tiny minority of those who start tanks.
:6:
Where's the fish? - Neptune