Description

Ammonia poisoning is a very serious problem to occur in an aquarium. It moves very quickly and can prove fatal to all the fish in your tank. Can be recognised by the behavior of the fish: The fish dart back and forth in the water. Ammonia is formed from non-toxic ammonium (NH₄). The higher the pH level (pH 6.5 and over), the more ammonium turns into toxic ammonia (NH₃). Some of the reasons for ammonia poisoning include: adding too many new fish to your tank at one time, sudden changes in water conditions, bacterial colonies dying off due to medications, or if your filter fails for any reason. Prevention ahead of time is the best method of controlling ammonia poisoning. Never add too many fish at once and do not overfeed your fish (if you see there is more food than they will eat in a couple of minutes, make sure to scoop it out).

Treatment

There are two options if the values of ammonia are critical: either a 50% partial water change or a pH reduction to a pH level at which the ammonia level drops back down to a safe level (ammonia turns into non-toxic ammonium at lower pH levels). Other measures: Regular partial water changes (30%), as well as thorough cleaning or disinfection of the filter or changing of the filter media, which should not be carried out at the same time as the water change. The food should be reduced (only as much as the animals eat within 3 minutes). If your fish are in very severe distress, there is a chemical you can buy at most pet stores/aquarium specialty stores. Do not add any new fish until your have established that your tank has the proper PH/Ammonia levels. It is important to keep testing your tank after ammonia poisoning, to make sure the levels stay down. It is important to check these levels regularly, just to make sure your tank is healthy.