Ammonia test liquid

Performance & sizing

Core numbers for matching this unit to your tank and electrical plan.

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Consumables & maintenance

Calibrate probes and replace test reagents per kit instructions.

Description

A liquid ammonia kit reports total ammonia nitrogen, which is the ionised and un-ionised forms added together. Only part of that total is the dangerous part, and how the total splits depends on pH, which is why one reading in isolation is hard to act on. The Merck Veterinary Manual's account of old tank syndrome is the clearest illustration: in a tank that has gone months without a real water change, the biofilter has spent the bicarbonate it needs, alkalinity has fallen and pH has slid down, and total ammonia nitrogen sits high while staying in the non-toxic form. Correcting that tank with one big water change is the trap. Merck asks for small daily changes instead, because bringing the pH back up quickly turns the stored ammonia toxic and hands the fish the poisoning the acid water had been holding off. The kit does its most useful work before any fish arrive. New tank syndrome usually shows up in the first six weeks, and a tropical biofilter can take up to eight weeks to establish. Fishless cycling means dosing ammonia to at least 1 to 5 mg/L and then testing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate until neither ammonia nor nitrite can be found. That is the signal to stock, and there is no way to see it without testing. Test alkalinity alongside it. Merck notes that total alkalinity at or below 50 mg CaCO3 per litre inhibits normal biofilter function and recommends buffering to at least 100. A cycle that has stalled with ammonia stuck on the card is often an alkalinity problem wearing an ammonia problem's clothes.

Source

• merckvetmanual.com — https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/aquarium-fish/management-of-aquarium-fish

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