How to test water in your fish tank ?
Some details that might interest people about Ammonia and Nitrite Control.
Let us consider the fatality level of Ammonia concentration at 24 degree for various PH values.
PH 8.0, Ammonia - 0.4 ppm; PH 7.0, Ammonia - 3.9 ppm; PH 6.0, Ammonia – 40 ppm;
So as you can see every time PH comes down by 1 unit, the tolerance to Ammonia goes up by 10 times.
Customer notices that his pool has PH 6.0 and Ammonia reading of 5 ppm.
Right way to do – Correct Ammonia by adding 100 (5 x 20) grams of sugar/m3 with plenty of aeration and then change PH from 6.0 to 7.0 by adding 4 ml/m3 of clear liquid of Lime {Ca (OH)2} - Fish is Happy & Well.
Wrong way to do – Change PH from 6.0 to 7.0 by adding 4 ml/m3 of clear liquid of Lime {Ca (OH)2} and then correct Ammonia by adding 100 (5 x 20) grams of sugar/m3 with plenty of aeration - Fish DIES.
Customer with PH 8.0 and Ammonia 0.4 ppm and Fish is dying.
Right way to do – Change PH from 8.0 to 7.0 by adding 72 ml/m3 of 5% strength Vinegar and mix well to save the Fish first and then reduce Ammonia by adding 100 (5 x 20) grams of sugar/m3 with plenty of aeration - Fish is Happy & Well.
Wrong way to do – Correct Ammonia by adding 100 (5 x 20) grams of sugar/m3 with plenty of aeration and then change PH from 8.0 to 7.0 by adding 72 ml/m3 of 5% strength Vinegar - Fish DIES.
Customer with PH 7.0 and Ammonia 0 ppm but Nitrite 8 ppm and Fish of 100-gram size is dying gasping for air.
Right way to do – Add about 120 (8 x 15) grams of Sea salt (Na Cl) with no iodine/m3 to the Pond and increase the aeration to the pond or reassign location of aerators in the pond to increase pond circulation and elimination of dead zones like the corners in a square pool. - Fish is Happy & Well.
The nitrite in the pond robs the Oxygen in hemoglobin and causes the fish blood to turn brown. This is a reversible reaction with exposure to clean water in about 24-72 hours. Smaller fish is far more tolerant to Nitrite level than Big fish. Small fish of 1/10th weight is almost 10 times more tolerant than bigger fish.