# what is ph, nitrite, and ammonia



## KENNYBLAST2005 (Apr 9, 2009)

does ph levels, ammonia, nitrate and all that stuff have anything to with growth rate? and what about the overall health of the fish?


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## dschoter05 (Oct 14, 2008)

one word YES. Ph should be stablesome where around 7, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate less than 40. These are the ideal conditions for best grow and healthy fish.


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## Murphy18 (Oct 17, 2008)

Yes, it is better to have a stable ph rather than a fluctuating one. Piranhs cannot adapt an cope to the acidity of the water changing all the time. Ammo 0 NitrIte 0 and NitrAte Ideally 0, but below 40 is accepted.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Murphy18 said:


> Yes, it is better to have a stable ph rather than a fluctuating one. Piranhs cannot adapt an cope to the acidity of the water changing all the time. Ammo 0 NitrIte 0 and NitrAte Ideally 0, but below 40 is accepted.


NitrAtes wont be zero unless you do 100% daily water changes...or have a tank full of plants.


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## Murphy18 (Oct 17, 2008)

Yes, i forgot to mention that you will very rarely get 0 nitrates.


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## FEEFA (Nov 19, 2007)

Murphy18 said:


> Yes, i forgot to mention that you will very rarely get 0 nitrates.


Way to regergiate info, do you even know what you're saying


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## KENNYBLAST2005 (Apr 9, 2009)

dschoter05 said:


> one word YES. Ph should be stablesome where around 7, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate less than 40. These are the ideal conditions for best grow and healthy fish.


PH AROUND 7?????? DAMN IM AT ABOUT 6 OR A JUST A LIL LOWER. MY CHART STOPS AT 6. THATS BAD ISNT IT?


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

THE RZA said:


> one word YES. Ph should be stablesome where around 7, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate less than 40. These are the ideal conditions for best grow and healthy fish.


PH AROUND 7?????? DAMN IM AT ABOUT 6 OR A JUST A LIL LOWER. MY CHART STOPS AT 6. THATS BAD ISNT IT?
[/quote]
Could be. At below 5.5 the nitrifying bacteria begins to die off in the filter because they cant survive in such acidic conditions. If your ammonia and nitrites are testing at 0 ppm than you have nothing to worry about at the moment. If your tap water has a pH of 7.0 or higher than chances are you need to either reduce feedings, cut down on the amount of fish in the tank, or increase your water change regiment.


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## KENNYBLAST2005 (Apr 9, 2009)

Dr. Giggles said:


> one word YES. Ph should be stablesome where around 7, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate less than 40. These are the ideal conditions for best grow and healthy fish.


PH AROUND 7?????? DAMN IM AT ABOUT 6 OR A JUST A LIL LOWER. MY CHART STOPS AT 6. THATS BAD ISNT IT?
[/quote]
Could be. At below 5.5 the nitrifying bacteria begins to die off in the filter because they cant survive in such acidic conditions. If your ammonia and nitrites are testing at 0 ppm than you have nothing to worry about at the moment. If your tap water has a pH of 7.0 or higher than chances are you need to either reduce feedings, cut down on the amount of fish in the tank, or increase your water change regiment.
[/quote]

well i have 3 5inchers in a 55gal. i do 25-30% water change about every 4-5 days. my tap is between 7.2 and 7.6. i feed them a few pellets or a small peice of talapia once a day and sometimes every other day. ive had them since they were maybe an 1 or 1.5. never checked for anything besides ph. im about to get a 4in rhom in a few weeks from a friend of mine so i need to get it together.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

I just copied my responce in a similar thrend:

staring: pH stand for potential hydrogen, and is basically how much hydrogen is in your water. More makes it acidic and less is basic. This is a scale of 1-14 where 1 is acid and 14 is basic. 7 is neutral. 6-8 is the recomended range. piranhas should have appox 6.5, but a unit over or under is ok as long as its stable. 8ph is used in some african cichlids and marine tanks mainly and is not ideal for p's. You should deffinitly buy a test kit with this becasue fluxuations are not good.

Nitrate (NO3) and nitrite (No2) are both toxins that can kill fish. Nitrite needs to be at zero all the time and nitate should be under 30ppm. You also need to deffinitly test these.

Ammonia (NH4) is another toxin that needs to be kept at zero. all of these toxins need to be monitored. waste and any decay can raise these levels and can be brought back down through water changes or consumed by plants (w/c's should be the main way).

Ph will generally stay constant (unless lots of driftwood or somethign in the tank-which could lower it) if you arnt adding any chemicals, so unless its wayy off which it probably isnt, i would just leave it and focuss on keeping water clean. For p's get fore filtration then you would for other fish since they make more waste. A general rule is 10x turnover per hour for hob filters and weekly water changes of 10- 20% are recommended to keep nitrates, nitrites and ammonia undetectable.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

THE RZA said:


> one word YES. Ph should be stablesome where around 7, ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate less than 40. These are the ideal conditions for best grow and healthy fish.


PH AROUND 7?????? DAMN IM AT ABOUT 6 OR A JUST A LIL LOWER. MY CHART STOPS AT 6. THATS BAD ISNT IT?
[/quote]
Could be. At below 5.5 the nitrifying bacteria begins to die off in the filter because they cant survive in such acidic conditions. If your ammonia and nitrites are testing at 0 ppm than you have nothing to worry about at the moment. If your tap water has a pH of 7.0 or higher than chances are you need to either reduce feedings, cut down on the amount of fish in the tank, or increase your water change regiment.
[/quote]

well i have 3 5inchers in a 55gal. i do 25-30% water change about every 4-5 days. my tap is between 7.2 and 7.6. i feed them a few pellets or a small peice of talapia once a day and sometimes every other day. ive had them since they were maybe an 1 or 1.5. never checked for anything besides ph. im about to get a 4in rhom in a few weeks from a friend of mine so i need to get it together.
[/quote]
Ok, since your tap is give or take a bit for arguements sake 7.4. If your pH is below 6 than you need to do a simple test or 2. One for nitrates before you do your normal water change. If the nitrates level is high than all you simply need to do is adjust your water change schedule to lets say every 2 days unless you get a larger tank. If your nitrates are not high than I suspect you have low kH and all you need to do is simply add crushed coral, limestone, or at the minimum a tablespoon or 2 of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda with every water change to your 55G.


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