NitrAte? Nitrite? Ammonia? PH?

[Branch1]

I have been reading alot of the other postings and am a little confused at this stage.

Frequent references are made to the Nitrites and Nitrates. Good or Bad? Which is which?

How do ammonia and NitrAte/Nitrite levels relate to PH?

 

[Phantom Thief]

Here's a simplified version for you.

Fish + food = poop.
Poop = ammonia (bad)
Bacteria + ammonia = nitrite (bad)
bacteria + nitrite = nitrate (not so bad)

And i THINK there is no relation to pH (may be wrong though)

P.T.

 

[keeper-of-fish]

nicely said phantom

 

[Phantom Thief]

To get a little more specific.

Ammonia is dangerous, very dangerous. Anything above 0.5 gives you a cause to worry.

Nitrite is less toxic, but should still be kept as low as possible.

Nitrate is safe up to very high levels, even 60ppm is still acceptable. Useful if you have plants.

And i think pH may affect the toxicity of ammonia, not sure on this point.

P.T.

 

[Branch1]

So what do cycle agents addd to new tanks?

 

[Phantom Thief]

If you mean the product Cycle, i think it adds the needed bacteria to change ammonia to nitrite and the like.

P.T.

 

[Branch1]

Coolio thanks very much.

Now you don't happen to know where my serpaes tail went?

 

[Phantom Thief]

P.T.

 

[LoveMyOscar]

...

 

[Phantom Thief]

It depends.

If you are doing a fish cycle, 0.5 is certainly dangerous, but acceptable. It largely depends on what fish you are keeping. It is impossible to keep it at 0 during the earlier stages.

And yes, sorry, the nitrates are best kept below 40, but 20-30 is still safe, even for long periods of time. Its weird, i remember reading somewhere that 60ppm is still safe...

P.T.

 

[Phantom Thief]

For most freshwater aquariums nitrate levels should be kept under 60 ppm, however levels upwards of 100 ppm are usually tolerated. Anything above 100 ppm and again, frequent water changes of at least 25% total tank volume would be in order

There just found it! I'm sure i heard a member mention it before too.

P.T.