Ammonia

Ammonia

Ammonia is part of the nitrogen cycle.

The cycle is, ammonia to nitrite to nitrate.

Ammonia exists in two forms in the water, ammonia or ammonium.

Ammonia is very dangerous to fish.

Ammonium is pretty much harmless to fish.

Ammonia exists as ammonium in low pH.

I try to keep fish in a pH of 6.50 to 7.00.

Never more than 7.20.

Ammonia usually occurs when organic matter decomposes.

Toxicity increases as pH increases and as temperature increases.

Plants are more tolerant of ammonia than animals, and invertebrates are more tolerant than fish.

Hatching and growth rates of fishes may be affected.

Excess ammonia levels is thought to be one of the main causes of unexplained losses in fish hatcheries.

Fish may suffer a loss of equilibrium and hyperexcitability.

Hyperexcitability is a state where neurons are more easily activated by stimuli.

This leads to excessive firing and a heightened response to stimuli.

This condition can manifest as muscle stiffness or spasms.

Also increased respiratory activity and oxygen uptake, and increased heart rate.

At extreme ammonia levels, fish may experience convulsions, coma, and death.
At higher levels even relatively short exposures can lead to skin, eye, and gills damage.

Even at slightly elevated ammonia levels fish may experience a reduction in hatching success; reduction in growth rate and morphological development; and injury to gill tissue, liver, and kidneys and hyperplasia where the gill filaments are swollen and clumped together, reducing the fish's ability to take up oxygen.

Aquaculture tanks with high stocking densities should be checked daily for ammonia.

Fish produce ammonia in their solid waste and excrete it through their gills.

Water used from bores needs to be checked for ammonia, and pH.

If the pH is low, probably there is Co2 present.

Degas the water for a short time and check the pH again.

If the pH has gone up, then it is most probable that the groundwater has high Co2.

It probably also has high ammonia.

Cycle the water through a good bio filter and check the ammonia and Co2 again.

They should stabilize over a short time.

The time depends on the filters ability to break down the ammonia.

A good filter will do this relatively quickly.

Also see this webpage

Sources of Ammonia

Agricultural:

The primary agricultural sources include accidental releases of ammonia-rich fertilizer during transport (because of vehicle accident, faulty hose connections, and human error); and livestock waste (from barnyards, feedlots, pastures, and rangeland).

Residential and Urban:

Household use of ammonia-containing cleaning products, septic systems, and improper disposal of ammonia products may contribute.

Atmospheric Deposition -

Available data suggests nitrogen (directly and via rainfall) constitutes a large portion of total nitrogenous inputs to estuarine and marine systems and a somewhat lesser portion to freshwater systems.

Ammonia in the atmosphere is derived from combustion processes such as domestic heating, burning of municipal waste, and internal-combustion engines.
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