does water temp effect ammonia,n02, n03?

[arachniac]

I keep my tank around 80 most of the time. I finally just finished a fish in cycling nightmare. Ammonia and nitrites are at 0. Nitrates fluctuate with pwc's, but are below 20.
Last night was a ccold night (50s) and I left my lr slider open for fresh air. Well I had unplugged my tank heater the other day cause temp spiked to 89. Forgot to plug it back in after tank cooled back down. So this am my tank temp is 70! Plugged heater in and its now up to 78. Does tank temp effect ammonia, nitrites and Nitrates? In other words, is their an ideal tropical community tank temp ? Thanks in advance.

 

[librarygirl]

I don't think temperature affects the ammonia, nitrites, nitrates directly, but I could be wrong. I do know that fast temperature changes are not good for the fish, however. Minor fluctuations over a period of time are usually fine, but sudden major drops or rises in temps can cause problems with the fish. Also it's normal for nitrates to fluctuate with water changes; they don't leave the tank any other way (unless you have lots of live plants that will use them). That's why weekly water changes are important: to keep nitrates down and to replenish the nutrients in the water the fish use up (sorry if I've misread, I just wanted to clarify since you mentioned the nitrate fluctuation).

As for the ideal temp, I'm not sure if there is one ideal temp. It largely depends on the type of fish. In general, most tropical aquariums do fine at temps of 76-78, to my knowledge.

 

[Wy Renegade]

I keep my tank around 80 most of the time. I finally just finished a fish in cycling nightmare. Ammonia and nitrites are at 0. Nitrates fluctuate with pwc's, but are below 20.
Last night was a ccold night (50s) and I left my lr slider open for fresh air. Well I had unplugged my tank heater the other day cause temp spiked to 89. Forgot to plug it back in after tank cooled back down. So this am my tank temp is 70! Plugged heater in and its now up to 78. Does tank temp effect ammonia, nitrites and Nitrates? In other words, is their an ideal tropical community tank temp ? Thanks in advance.

As stated above, the fish in the tank will determine what is the ideal temperature for your tank. What fish do you have in your tank? As far as the ammonia, temperature and pH will affect the form of ammonia in your tank (i.e. un-ionized ammonia (NH3) which is toxic to fish, and ammonium ions (NH4+) which is non-toxic except at extremely high levels. The proportion of NH4+ to NH3 changes with changes in pH and temperature. Generally speaking the proportion of the un-ionized ammonia increases as temperature and pH increase. Put simply, a decreasing temperature should not cause any issues, a increasing temperature may. HTH

 

[librarygirl]

^ Thanks, I learned something new about temperature affecting ammonia, etc. levels. I knew PH did, but wasn't sure on temperature and hadn't come across that specific question before.

 

[Wy Renegade]

^ Thanks, I learned something new about temperature affecting ammonia, etc. levels. I knew PH did, but wasn't sure on temperature and hadn't come across that specific question before.

Any time, we're all here to learn from each other. For knowledge to have any value it must be shared not hoarded.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Here's a good reference for ammonia toxicity - http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/your-guide-to-ammonia-toxicity-159994.html

 

[jlk]

Temp & ph both have a direct affect on the toxicity levels of ammonia. The higher the temp & ph, the more toxic the levels of ammonia are for your fish. If you have zero ammonia in your tank, it doesnt matter what the temp or ph are because zero amm is still zero amm. This article is scientific but it explains the coorelation between ph/temp & ammonia.

http://www.ca.uky.edu/wkre/ph-Ammonia.htm