Newbie dumb question for today - ammonia

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Capella

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
40
Location
Kansas
What is this ammonia you speak of? (I've been reading bunches of threads). I just can't find it on my test strip. I have the Jungle 6 in one strip kit. It tests: Nitrate, Nitrite, Total Hardness, Total Chlorine, Total Alkalinity & PH. Are one of these terms another word for ammonia??

Debbie
 
you should really look into a liquid reagant test kit... theyre much more accurate... most people (including myself) have the aquarium pharmaceuticals freshwater master kit... its very nice and has everything you need for freshwater
 
I agree, pick up the API master test kit, its about $15-20 but its worth it. Ammonia comes from fish wastes and decaying food.
 
I started writing this before seeing the responses and by the time I was ready to post many others had already spoken to this but, no, none of those terms are another word for ammonia. Ammonia is a molecule, NH4, that is harmful to fish. The chemistry of aquaria can seem quite complex as there's a lot floating around in there. This article on the Nitrogen Cycle should be helpful in explaining a little about what's happening in your water.

Here are the basics of the chemistry you'll find in your tank:
  • Ammonia = NH3 (one nitrogen, plus three hyrdogen). Ammonia is a natural waste product of fishes. It is harmful to them, however, and can burn their skin, gills, etc.
  • NitrIte = NO2 (one nitrogen, plus two oxygen). Nitrite is also harmful to fish but less so than ammonia.
  • NitrAte = NO3 (one nitrogen, plus three oxygen). Nitrate is much less harmful to fish than either ammonia or nitrite but can still be toxic in large doses.
  • Hardness = Water hardness is the concentration of calcium, magnesium and other metals in your water.
  • Chlorine = Cl (one chlorine). Chlorine is an element and is toxic to fish. Chlorine reacts with the organic tissue of fish to cause cell death (necrosis). It can also kill offnitrifying bacteria that drive the nitrogen cycle.
  • Alkalinity = Buffery Capacity and is the concentration of bases (such as carbonate) in your water. It is a measure of the water's ability to neutralize acids.
  • pH = pH is the measure of how acidic or basic your water is based on the concentration of hyrdogen ions.
Here is an article on pH, alkalinity and general hardness that might help clear up some confusion.

At any rate, as the folks before me said, most of us here believe that the paper test strips aren't very accurate and thus aren't the best indicators of water quality. I second the recommendation for getting the API tests.
 
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Wow. Thank you! A ton of good reading here and I'm going to get started on it right now. It's so nice to have a week off and get to put in some solid time learning. I will read all the "light" links and see about getting a different kind of testing method going.

Debbie
 
ooo... can't wait for the chemists to chime in. As i remember, Ammonium is what the vast majority of Ammonia turns into when it reacts with water. It's less toxic. That's why some tests test for 'total ammonia' which really tests for both ammonia and ammonium. Temp and PH determine how much gets converted from one to the other
 
You guys are great, but this stuff is giving me a newbie headache:). Since I just have the strips for now and these little colored squares seem subject to interpertation of matching color - this is what it looks like right now.

Nitrate: Just above 0, a tinge of pink but certainly not 20
Nitrite: 0
Total Hardness: less than 75 (color is lighter than shown)
Total chlorien: 0
Total Alkalinity: less than 80 (color is lighter than shown)
PH: 7.8 (on the high side)

Will look for different testing method this afternoon. We have a cockatoo with a congenital beak deformity, so is the most socialized bird in the world going to vet so often. She'll be a hit in the fish store while I look for the kit that will include testing the ammonia.
 
You guys are great, but this stuff is giving me a newbie headache:). Since I just have the strips for now and these little colored squares seem subject to interpertation of matching color

I can definitely relate to the newbie headache! I hear that it passes, followed by a terrible case of MTS (multiple tank syndrome) :) And yes, interpreting the colors, even on the liquid tests can sometimes make a person cross-eyed!

Oh, and there is no such thing as a dumb question on this site :)
 
do not forget about the two currents in the water that you have to have

1 major, 1 minor
1 up-down, 1 lateral

what i did i set
the airstone as major/up-down and
the filter as minor lateral
(made it that the exhaust of the filter spins the water sideways)


this will naturally keep you from some algae problems, plus if you have no substrate, it will make your tank-bottom clean like an angel
 
Sahabo - glad to know I'm not the only one who felt the pressure of suddenly needing to be water chemist.

MisticX - please say you are kidding about all the up-down, inside out, lateral business:) A gold fish in a bowl is starting to have major appeal - LOL

Debbie
 
I've never heard of this lateral/major current business. I've heard of river type setups which powerheads are used to create a river effect. Usually you just want your filter to agitate the surface and provide at least some current.

I don't know if he's trying to pull your leg or not... I wouldn't worry about it though :)
 
Capella - We've all been in your shoes at one point or another. Whether it was first learning about cycling, or later when delving into live plants seriously. I've heard it's just as bad learning about the intricacies of SW. All you have to do is look around the board and see the number of aquarists that are still around and you'll know that you too will get it all straightened out.

Yes it is important to have good flow in your aquarium, generally with a good ripple at the water's surface, but I wouldn't worry overly much about the direction unless you're setting up a river tank or something similar.
 
Remember :

Surface agitation (water ripple) gets oxygen in your water column. get your filter to do a good splash and/or the bubbles from your airstone/stones do the same thing.

If a larger tank, using a powerhead to get the water moving will help bring all the 'floaters' in reach of your filter intake. Not required but it sure helps.

As Mistic said. good flow also helps with algae reduction. I never get algae on my FW glass once I repositioned a PW to blow str8 at the front glass. The flow hits the glass and disperses from there. Wham no glass algae..Now if I could just get rid of the rest of it :(

After that, it's all aesthetics.
 
honestly back in romania (1990's), i had a home made air pump, and a home made heater

with the air pump i created a water column that was filtering enough good my tank and that was doing both surface agitation and currents in the water (so you make sure your water has same parameters all over)

once the electricity went off, and i was away for 2 weeks, none the thermostat and the air pump worked for about 10 days and my fish were just about fine.
truth is that my plants were reduced to almost nothing ... but still ... they grew back up

SO as long as they have something to eat, and to breathe ... your fish will be fine.
and of course you have to make sure you are disease free in your tank.


do not need to be scared, keeping fish is not that HARD of a work.


BUT, with nowadays technology, you can make your fish live longer, happier and healthier ... so why not ?
 
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