What is ammonia NH3 NH4? - seneye NH4 (ammonium) is a nontoxic salt It is the ionised form of ammonia NH3 and NH4 together are often referred to as total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) Under normal conditions, NH3 (ammonia) and NH4 (ammonium) will both be present in aquarium water The two exist at an equilibrium point that is governed largely by pH and temperature
what is ammonium NH4 ? - Seneye NH4 (ammonium) is a nontoxic salt, it is the ionised form of toxic ammonia NH3 It is useful to understand that in the aquatic environment NH4 is not toxic, however it does have the ability to instantly change to NH3 with a change in pH and or tempertaure This is why people often worry about high levels of NH4 when they do water tests, as NH4
NH4 and NH3 calculations tables - seneye In true terms NH4 is a nontoxic substance in the aquarium, however due to the equilibrium which occurs between NH3 NH4 at a given pH and temperature it is better to measure NH4 as an indicator of NH3 than nothing at all Interpretation of NH4 to estimate NH3 is most often done by a chart supplied with the test kit or by a calculation online
what ammonia level is safe - seneye nh3 ammonia safe Ammonia toxicity changes for different organisms, but one thing is constant and that is that the desired level is as close to zero as is possible
Photometer and reagent ammonia tests - seneye Many tests use the “indophenol method” for measuring the ammonia by drastically increasing the pH of the sample The movement in pH means that all of the ammonium (NH4) in the sample will be liberated to the NH3 form The NH3 then reacts with the chemistry in the test to create the colour change that is measurable by the photometer or eye
Ammonia Test Kit - seneye If your ammonia test kit registers in shades of amber, it's Nessler They generally are quicker to use, but ammonia-locking products (e g , AmQuel) will cause Nessler kits to give false positive readings Nessler test kits measure ammonia NH3 and ammonium NH4
Water chemistry - seneye For example suddenly removing high levels of PO4 phosphate can reduce the waters buffering capacity which can cause PH crashes or make the PH change; this in turn can change NH4 to NH3 etc… The best solution to correct issues in the aquarium water is to do water changes with good quality water and slowly correct the issue
why does NH3 go up when I do water changes? - Seneye On changing water a move to a higher pH will unlock NH4 into NH3 and the transition can happen in fractions of a second If this is the case for you then keep repeating 20% water changes and eventually the NH3 NH4 will start to reduce through dilution
Saltwater aquarium - Seneye When we measure the pH,we are measuring hydroxyl ion in solution, as pH increases so do the hydroxyl ions which attach them selves to the hydrogen ions leaving ammonia in its toxic state,NH3, as pH decreases then so do the hydroxyl ions, leaving hydrogen ions to attach to the ammonia molecules detoxifying and ionising ,making safe as NH4