An ammonia question... A reading from the strip

[Mmathis]

Normally I use the API liquid tests, but also have strips for quick checks on my QT setup. I was comparing a strip and realized that the bottle of strips list an ammonia reading of 0.5 ppm as "safe." I thought 0.5 ppm would be considered high.... BTW, I rechecked this with my liquid test, and the ammonia was 1 ppm.

So, my questions isn't which is more accurate -- strips vs liquid -- but rather, why would the strips say that an ammonia reading of 0.5 ppm is "safe?" Or is it, and I've been wrong all this time.....

 

[talal101]

Normally I use the API liquid tests, but also have strips for quick checks on my QT setup. I was comparing a strip and realized that the bottle of strips list an ammonia reading of 0.5 ppm as "safe." I thought 0.5 ppm would be considered high.... BTW, I rechecked this with my liquid test, and the ammonia was 1 ppm.
View attachment 68956
So, my questions isn't which is more accurate -- strips vs liquid -- but rather, why would the strips say that an ammonia reading of 0.5 ppm is "safe?" Or is it, and I've been wrong all this time.....

Ammonia is very harmful to fish, why would 0.5 be considered safe, in all my years of fish keeping and research on the subject, 0 ammonia has ALWAYS been safe and ideal. I believe those strips are bs'ing you. It could be done to cover for the inaccuracy of the strip, that way owners who get between 0 and 0.5 will think its alright when really it could be 1 and they wouldn't know.....getting where I'm going?

 

[crsublette]

Excellent observation and question.

Yep, you just stepped into murky waters, watch out for the ammonia " Swamp Thing ". This is where the "better safe than sorry" crowd comes in, which I generally take their side of it, but they kind of skew the danger.


Ultimately, ammonia (NH3) toxicity concerns is determined by fish species and all species have different tolerances.

For cyprinus carpio, which is koi, is talked about here... Study On Acute Ammonia Toxicity At Different Ph levels In Fish Cyprinus Carpio (http://www.ajbpr.com/issues/volume1/issue4/FINAL 32.pdf)

Take notice they are using ammonia measurements of 18~22 ppm for 96 hours to test the koi's tolerance, which is crazy! Water was 7.2 pH and 77*F, while fluctuating the pH to 8.0, which amounts to 0.40~1.14. ppm NH3, which they state the survivability at this level was 50/50% survivability/mortality Amazing they did not die during this 96 hour time window.


Two main variables, out of many other variables, in determining ammonia's toxicity, then you will need a calculator to determine your ammonia (NH3) concentration. Most ammonia test kits, such as the API ones, are testing for Total Ammonia Nitrogen, commonly referred to as TAN. So, take this value, enter it into the calculator then find the intersection that best matches your pH and water temperature. Here is the calculator... CNYKOI - Ammonia Calculator (http://www.cnykoi.com/calculators/calcnh3c.asp)


As mentioned in the study for koi, When the ammonia (NH3) levels reach 0.02 ppm, then it starts to have long-term damage to the fish due to it is changing their body's chemistry.

There are serious koi aficionados that I trust who have suggested that they never experienced any koi death, nor noticeable permanent damage, that is until the ammonia (NH3) levels reached as high as 0.10 ppm, as long as this period is only quite short, as in just a few days.


So, if your API TAN test kit registers there is 1ppm ammonia, then your toxic ammonia (NH3) concentration is....

With 7.2 pH and 78*F water temperature, 0.009 ppm NH3 - No problems at all

With 7.8 pH and 78*F water temperature, 0.036 ppm NH3 - Starting to get concerned.

With 8.2 pH and 78*F water temperature, 0.086 ppm NH3 - Ok, time to do a serious 80% water change, improve bio-filter, start using temporary and permanent ammonia binders. Get fixed very soon.

With 8.2 pH and 50*F water temperature, 0.012 ppm NH3 - No problems at all.


Now, lets throw you for a loop here.... In aqua-ponic systems, which consists an average of around 6.4~6.8ph with around 72*F water temperature... How much TAN is required until it becomes harmful to fish?

At 6.8pH and 72*F water temper, 6.8ppm TAN equals 0.02 ppm NH3. Only quite hardy cold specie fish such as koi and goldfish (not the fancy variety) can survive this. However, if you have any other sensitive warm water fish species such as Tilapia in your pond, then this would absolutely kill them.

Typically, in aqua-ponic systems, which is the collision of growing healthy fish and healthy plants (https://www.gardenpondforum.com/thr...ing-truly-viable-on-a-commercial-scale.13572/), they try to keep their TAN below 2ppm since they often have warm water fish species.



Long Geeky answer....

As with many aqueous compounds, there are multiple dominant species. In the context of ammonia, the dominant species bounces between ammonia (NH3), that is a neutral compound, and ammonium (NH4+). One reason ammonia (NH3) is so toxic to fish is that its neutral charge allows the compound to directly penetrate so to be absorbed into the fish's bloodstream, which creates all sorts of bad reactions.

From respiration and their waste, fish actually is constantly producing ammonia (NH3). However, the moment ammonia enters a liquid then the liquid's pH, temperature, and other variables determines how fast ammonia (NH3) dissolves into the water. When ammonia dissolves into water, it has a strong attraction to any free hydrogen cations (H+). So, at lower pHs, amongst other environmental variables, the ammonia (NH3) takes a H+ from water (H20) and creates ammonium (NH4OH) and this is why ammonium is often notated to have a positive charge, that is NH4+. Due to this charge, ammonium is not allowed to penetrate the fish until the pH increases, which strips the extra H+ from ammonium, and converts the ammonium (NH4+) into ammonia (NH3). In hope that I did not mangle the stoichemistry, this is the simplest way I can think of in trying to explain the ammonia equilibrium in water.

Actually, controlling the ammonia (NH3) and ammonium (NH4+) concentrations can also control the water's pH, but this is quite complicated.

 

[crsublette]

Normally I use the API liquid tests, but also have strips for quick checks on my QT setup. I was comparing a strip and realized that the bottle of strips list an ammonia reading of 0.5 ppm as "safe." I thought 0.5 ppm would be considered high.... BTW, I rechecked this with my liquid test, and the ammonia was 1 ppm.
View attachment 68956
So, my questions isn't which is more accurate -- strips vs liquid -- but rather, why would the strips say that an ammonia reading of 0.5 ppm is "safe?" Or is it, and I've been wrong all this time.....

I was trying to give a short answer, but... Grrr...


Short Answer...

Pond water with 7.8 pH and 78*F water temperature, then 0.5 ppm TAN equates to 0.018 ppm NH3, which is kind of "ok", but should start to keep a serious eye on it and start thinking about what you will do to reduce this, that is by either using a permanent ammonia binder such as Zeolite, along with temporary ammonia binder such as Ammo Lock or AmQuel Plus, along with improving your bio-filtering and reduce feeding, increase plant density, along with a potential major water change.


So, saying 0.5ppm is "safe" kind of scares me... This is where the accuracy of paper strips come into play... They are not very accurate at all.

As I mentioned, I use paper test strips to serve as a "fire alarm", that is a fire alarm only tells you about the potential of there being a fire rather than giving any specifics. So, when you get an "alarming" result on your paper test strips, then crack out the liquid ammonia test kit so to get a good accurate reading and then react accordingly.

Paper test strips are nice since it only takes around 5 seconds to do them. Liquid test kits are little more cumbersome and I don't always have time to do them.


Personally, if there is a noticeable slight green tint to the ammonia paper test strip result, then I would whip out the liquid test kit to know for sure and react accordingly.

 

[talal101]

I was trying to give a short answer, but... Grrr...


Short Answer...

Pond water with 7.8 pH and 78*F water temperature, then 0.5 ppm TAN equates to 0.018 ppm NH3, which is kind of "ok", but should start to keep a serious eye on it and start thinking about what you will do to reduce this, that is by either using a permanent ammonia binder such as Zeolite, along with temporary ammonia binder such as Ammo Lock or AmQuel Plus, along with improving your bio-filtering and reduce feeding, increase plant density, along with a potential major water change.


So, saying 0.5ppm is "safe" kind of scares me... This is where the accuracy of paper strips come into play... They are not very accurate at all.

As I mentioned, I use paper test strips to serve as a "fire alarm", that is a fire alarm only tells you about the potential of there being a fire rather than giving any specifics. So, when you get an "alarming" result on your paper test strips, then crack out the liquid ammonia test kit so to get a good accurate reading and then react accordingly.

Paper test strips are nice since it only takes around 5 seconds to do them. Liquid test kits are little more cumbersome and I don't always have time to do them.


Personally, if there is a noticeable slight green tint to the ammonia paper test strip result, then I would whip out the liquid test kit to know for sure and react accordingly.

Bravo! well done! I always appreciate your answers, I am a science student, majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry so I could follow everything you said to a T. I agree that paper strips are a good fire alarm....but I still think people should just go liquid, yes it takes longer, but I would rather have a much more accurate reading the first time....what if the strip indicates 0 ammonia and it is in fact 1? or even more....I just don't trust them at all. I have a master test kit for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph, calcium, phosphate, gh, kh, and I believe one more thing!

 

[Mmathis]

WOW, Charles! My head is spinning.... Thanks!

 

[crsublette]

WOW, Charles! My head is spinning.... Thanks!

To answer your question more directly, I think the test kit was trying the KISS approach, that is "keep it stupid simple", and, in this effort, as described above, they found it fine in stating "total ammonia nitrogen of 0.5 ppm is Safe".


However, the test kit recommendation is quite terrible advice since it is does not explain it so it is more likely to get you into trouble, as explained above. Although, I would be fine with it if the test strip indicators actually further clarified it, that is explaining when 0.5ppm ammonia is "safe", except the paper strip test kits do not elaborate on this. In the instruction booklet for the total ammonia liquid test kit, the booklet often explains, or at least mentions, that pH and water temperatures impact the ammonia's toxicity and should be taken into consideration.


I often ignore the test kit's commentary when talking about "what is safe" or "what is healthy". or "what is good or bad".

Just don't take their word for it that it is "Safe".

 

[fishin4cars]

Maggie, I use strips to quickly spot check the ponds. A .5 reading on a strip is a warning sign for me to test with the liquid kit. As you have read many times. test strips are fast and easy to use but there fall back is there inaccuracy. What Charles posted is the big picture and knowing this information allows you to better understand the total concept of what is actually going on in the pond as far as True water quality.

 

[Mmathis]

I feel fortunate in that I have just enough experience to know that a reading of 0.5 ppm is, uh, suspicious. I know to look at the numbers instead of the words. Makes me wonder what the strips read when they say "ideal" is "0" (which, of course, IS ideal).

As I mentioned, I followed up that "strip" reading with a liquid test and my result was 1ppm. Like you guys, Charles & Larkin, I only use the strips as spot checks, and do follow up with liquid if I have issues -- I've been learning from the best I do have zeolite in the water flow.

So, a warning: LOOK AT THE NUMBERS, NOT AT THE WORDS! And look at your fish!

 

[crsublette]

I feel fortunate in that I have just enough experience to know that a reading of 0.5 ppm is, uh, suspicious. I know to look at the numbers instead of the words. Makes me wonder what the strips read when they say "ideal" is "0" (which, of course, IS ideal).

As I mentioned, I followed up that "strip" reading with a liquid test and my result was 1ppm. Like you guys, Charles & Larkin, I only use the strips as spot checks, and do follow up with liquid if I have issues -- I've been learning from the best I do have zeolite in the water flow.

So, a warning: LOOK AT THE NUMBERS, NOT AT THE WORDS! And look at your fish!

Just be sure to remember to recharge the Zeolite after a period of time. I never could find out how long until a recharge is needed, but, it is quite a simple process; so, if its been a couple weeks or so, then think about recharging it. Also, be sure to recharge it first after it is bought from a store; this is to ensure the Zeolite begins with a maximum charge.

Eventually, If you never recharge the Zeolite, then you can experience ammonia spikes because, once Zeolite is "full", then it will actually start to leach out heavy concentrations of ammonium leading to a total ammonia spike. When the Zeolite is recharged, it is "emptied" of all its ammonium into a bucket so then it only contains sodium.

However, remember, Zeolite never truly becomes "full" with ammonium due to other chemistry and application complications that go beyond our context of awesome plant and fish loving pond hobbyists. Thus, in our context, the Zeolite can actually start leaching out ammonium sooner. This is why it is good to stay on top of recharging the Zeolite.


To recharge the Zeolite, simply create a salt water solution of 7 ounces to 1 gallon in a bucket, while stirring the Zeolite on occasion. Let it sit in this solution for a day or so. Then, rinse it good to remove any salt residue and now it is ready to be used again. The thread, what kind of salt?, will talk about the proper salt to use so that the Zeolite does not absorb any potentially harmful contaminants.

Also, the low salinity levels we use or experience in our freshwater ponds is not even close to be enough to release the absorbed ammonium from Zeolite. There has to be a tremendously much higher salinity for this to happen, which is one reason why it takes 7 ounces of salt to 1 gallon of water.

The Zeolite can be cheaply found at farm supply stores sold as horse stall deodorizers, except be sure to get it without additives. To be on the safe side, then buy the Zeolite from the fish section of pet stores or from a local fish store, except it will be more expensive from these other stores. Although, you will likely find other Zeolite formations mixed in with the store products, which is quite fine.



And here is the geeky explanation...


The most common form of Zeolite we use is actually a mineral rock, called Clinoptilolite, which is not a clay, except with other constituents then it does help to form a clay. Zeolite is often confused with clay crystalline structures since there are many similarities in there composition and how they function, but Zeolite is not a clay. Clay formations, such as Laterite, also attracts ammonium, except it is only a temporary attraction, where as Zeolite is more of a permanent solution due to its unique attributes.


Zeolite works on a positive ion exchange system primarily through an exchange of sodium (Na+) and ammonium (NH4+), except particular other positive charged compounds and even free hydrogen cations (H+) and other particular precipitated hydroxide compounds can interfere making the Zeolite less effective.

So, as described above, in lower pHs, the more dominant ammonia species is ammonium (NH4+), which is exactly what Zeolite loves to absorb due to its crystalline structure.

However, even in higher pHs, there is still a presence of ammonium, except at a lower level. However, since the two species of ammonia are always forced to perform an equilibrium dance, due to the water's high pH, the more dominant ammonia species (NH3) is almost instantly converted to ammonium (NH4+) once any ammonium is absorbed by Zeolite.

So, due to the extra step described above, Zeolite does becomes less effective in higher pHs, except this simply means you just need more of it. Unfortunately, I never could find out how much more is needed to offset the high pH


Clinoptiloite Zeolite is most effective in pHs hovering around 6.0 ~ 8.0 with the optimal pH effectiveness at 6.48.

When the pH drops below 6.0 or above 8.0, then it starts to become noticeably less effective. However, to reiterate, this just means you need to use more of it. Zeolite only truly stops becoming effective in pHs above 9.0.


For some light reading, then check out the below hyperlink, which was too large for me to upload, and the attached PDF.

EPA - National Severice Center for Environment Publications (NSCEP) - Optimation of Ammonia Removal by Ion Exchange Using Clinoptilolite

Using Natural Zeolite - Treatment Method of High Concentrated NH3 (below PDF)

 

[crsublette]

There are serious koi aficionados that I trust who have suggested that they never experienced any koi death, nor noticeable permanent damage, that is until the ammonia (NH3) levels reached as high as 0.10 ppm, as long as this period is only quite short, as in just a few days.

Reading through some of my old posts and need to make this correction... 0.10 ppm should be 1.00 ppm. However, I would not allow the ammonia (NH3) levels get even close to this high even though there are hobbyists that suggest, due to their anecdotal testimonials, there are no problems with this level, even at a short duration.

To reiterate, if there is a noticeable slight green tint to the ammonia paper test strip result, then I would whip out the liquid test kit to know for sure and react accordingly, as explained above.


Honestly, if there is any noticeable sustained ammonia climb, then I would start: 1) reducing feedings; 2) gently rinse or whatever process used to rinse the biological filter; 3) a slow major water change of 40% or higher; 4) properly install fully charged zeolite; 5) add the minimum recommended amount of ammonia binder chemical product (be sure it is not expired). If there is still a climbing presence of ammonia, then 24 hours later I would do: 1) a slow major water change of 40% or higher; 2) replace and recharge the zeolite; 3) add the minimum recommended amount of ammonia binder. These tasks must be done in this order.

After reacting as explained above for a few days, up to a week or so, and there is still a climbing presence of ammonia, then the cause of the growing ammonia may likely be: 1) water is too cold for your bio-filters to properly function thus you must do the above process until the weather warms up; 2) too much plant decay or hidden plant decay thus the pond needs to be cleaned; 2) biological filter too small and likely need more plants thus you might need a more efficient or bigger bio-filter; 3) too many fish thus you need to re-home the fish; 4) there is fertilizers or some other pollution runoff drainage contaminating the pond water thus look for this potentially happening and stop it.

If you experience a sustained ammonia climb every Winter before Spring and takes a while for the ammonia to lower after the water reaches 50*F, then this indicates: 1) your biological filter is too small or inefficient thus you need a bigger bio-filter or a more efficient bio-filter; 2) you might be feeding too much or using the wrong food thus stop feeding or use different food (don't worry, fish will not starve since they will be eating the algae); 3) the pond is too dirty thus needs a good cleaning removing much of the plant decay; 4) you have too many fish thus need to re-home them.

When the pond is correctly built with good filtration and other proper pond husbandry management techniques, then there should be absolutely no concern of a sustained ammonia climb every Winter before Spring.


Hope this helps for the folk that have ammonia problems.