Ammonia:
Ammonia is the primary waste product of fish, excreted through the gill tissue, and also via the kidney. Ammonia can also accumulate from decaying organic matter, i.e. fish waste, plant material, fish tissue, and excess feeding. Ammonia accumulations cause stress and reddening of the skin and disability of the gills by its direct caustic effect on the tissue surface. Fish suffering in water with high ammonia accumulations will isolate themselves, lie on the bottom, clamp their fins, secrete excess slime, and are much more susceptible to parasites and bacterial infection. Ammonia is a big problem in new systems because the bacteria that would naturally dissolve ammonia are not established. Fritz Turbo Start will help establish this bacteria and reduce cycle time. In established systems ammonia ! can accumulate in the springtime when the water is cold but fish are eating. Monitoring water temps is recommended prior to feeding and again adding Fritz Turbo Start will help. Ammonia is capable of ionization below pH 7.4 and so in its ionized state is less toxic to fish. Above pH 8.0 most ammonia is ionized and so becomes more toxic. Care should be taken not to increase the pH of the system if ammonia is present.

Treatment for Ammonia:
Water changes and management of a pH near neutral will help. Stop Feeding, your fish have gone all winter without eating so they can miss a few meals until the filter has time to cycle. Zeolites can be used, however, remember that the main food source for Fritz Turbo Start is ammonia and is needed to cycle the filter. Salt at 0.3% or three pounds per one hundred gallons will help during this break-in or cycle time. You can not use Zeolites and salt at the same time due to fact that salt is used to re-charge zeolite. Remember that time and water changes are the two mainstays. High pH and warm water will have an enhanced toxicity when ammonia is present.

Nitrite:
Nitrite is an intermediate metabolite in the cycle. Nitrite binds fish Red Blood Cells causing gasping and brown blood disease. Fish that die with their gills widely flared died of nitrite poisoning.

Treatment:
Ways to combat this are as follows:


Know the problem exists, a simple test will tell.
Partial water changes will lower nitrite levels.
Addition of salt (non-iodized) one pound per 100 gallons) will inhibit the uptake of nitrites.) Methylene Blue at the bottle doses will help, but will not reverse brown blood disease.
pH: PH is a measurement of the free hydrogen ions in the system. pH is measured on a scale of 1 to 14, but the pH required for life lies between 5.5 and 9.5. An alkaline pH is termed high & would be any pH much over 7.0 on the scale mentioned above. An acid pH is a pH below 7.0. Liquid Test Kits and PH Meters are available at Koistuff.com
Individual species will have varying demands as far as the pH they prefer. Ignorance of the requirements of each species will result in the death of the animals. PH impacts fish in several ways. PH and kH can be very stable with the use of Buff it Up. First, if the pH is too Low, a condition called acidosis results. Symptoms are anorexia, and then production of excess slime, isolation, and resting on the bottom, finally, streaking in the fins, and then death. If the pH is too High, the fish will produce excess slime, and gasp for air at the surface. Losses can be major with both situations. Alkalosis is hard to reverse once it occurs.

To correct the crisis quickly add Baking Soda. One cup per 1000 gallons. PH contributes to the toxicity of ammonia. At higher pH values, ammonia is more toxic to fish. Below 7.2 most ammonia is ionized to ammonium and is far less toxic. So therefore, it is not recommend to increase pH without checking for signs of ammonia in the water. There is a test kit available for testing pH. It simply compares the water after reagent is added to the color chart. PH is prone to fall in un-buffered systems, and can fall precipitously due to oxygen consumption, i.e. green water and over cast day and night the algae will use and deplete oxygen from the water. Accumulation of carbon dioxide, decaying fish, and other organic waste will cause pH to drop.

Another situation is that the nitrifying bacteria and other bacteria reduce ammonia and nitrite and also need oxygen to live. They give off Carbon Dioxide as one of their by-products. Carbon Dioxide forms Carbonic Acid and lowers the pH. As well, the process of reducing ammonia to nitrite also gives off more hydrogen ions, which in turn lowers the pH. Fish giving off Carbon Dioxide also affect the pH of a system, if crowded. The combined effects of all these factors, if not off set by the use of Buff it Up as mentioned above can cause what in known as a pH Crash!!! Crashes from a normal pH all the way down to pH 5.5 can occur overnight. At 5.5 the filter bacteria from such a crash will shut down and most likely die. There goes the ammonia shooting up and so on. In systems with Buff it Up this phenomena is never seen.

One final note, if your pH has crashed and the fish are dead or dying you don't have time to make gradual changes. After the diagnoses has been made go ahead and add the Baking Soda fast. I personally just dump it in without regard to measurement, heck the fish are going to die if you do not do something fast. I've had good results saving fish with this approach. After things appear somewhat normal, check the pH and correct it to as close to 7.0 as you can and add the Stabilizer for two months of a locked in pH. Restart your filter with Fritz Turbo Start to ensure ammonia control.

Dissolved Oxygen:
Oxygen is obviously essential to fish health, but how much or how little? Test kits are available, I would recommend owning one. Minimum levels would be 5ppm. This level will allow fish to live a few days. Levels as low as 3ppm at least partially explain why fish are dying. Levels as low a 7ppm could, and should be improved. Levels of 11 or better are the desired range. Low Dissolved Oxygen is an underestimated cause of fish losses.

The Cycle:
If you are not already familiar with the cycle, this is the process by which fish waste are broken down by bacteria in the aquatic system. It goes like this. Ammonia is produced by the fish, from gills and the vent. Nitrosomonas bacteria in the pond and in the filter break down ammonia before it has a change to burn the fish. This results in the production of Nitrites. Nitrobacter, a second bacteria breaks down Nitrites into harmless Plant food or Nitrates. Fritz Turbo Start is live Nitrifying Bacteria and will cut this cycle time to less than three weeks. Ammonia must be present for the bacteria to live on.

How Does Water Quality Impact the Fish?
Water quality can harm fish in the following ways:


Ammonia burns the fishes gills and skin.
Nitrite accumulations are directly caustic and also complex with red blood cells to suffocate the fish.
pH derangements can create burns on the fish and cause blood disorders including acidosis and alkalosis which are equally fatal.
All water quality derangements are stressful to fish, and stress is known to increase the susceptibility of fish to all of their pathogens and invaders. Part of the way this is modulated is by suppression of immunity by high circulating cortisol levels secreted by the adrenal glands during stress.
What to do for Excellent Water Quality:
Frequent addition of new fresh water. Water changes dilute the accumulation of growth inhibitory pheromones, and when done regularly, can prohibit the occurrence of possibly infectious bacterial blooms.
What Impacts the Test Kits:
Testing cold water results in low readings. Do not count on surface water for accuracy. Test water from arm's length or close to bottom for more accurate readings. Test kit reagents expire very quickly. A kit over a year old should not be relied upon. Dirty vials and inappropriate stirring can adjust pH and ammonia readings. The tubes should be rinsed in distilled water between usage, and should be completely clean before u

How I reduce my ammonia and nitrite.

Ammonia and nitrite should be zero in a healthy tank.
and something must have gone wrong e.g dead fishes/plants, excess feeding, medication killing the bacteria for the ammonia and nitrite to go up.

What I do when such things happen

• Change 50% of water per day for 2-3 days till the readings go back to normal
• Reduce feeding
• Check for dying/dead plants/fishes
• Add in beneficial bacteria e.g. Nutrafin Cycle
• Add in water conditioners like Easylife which claims to reduce nitrite level
• Daily gravel vacuum to remove fish wastes

Remember the points man!

Yep!!

And always do water changes whenever u sense that something is wrong with ur tank! :banana:

Wow,
50% water change is too drastics. I do not recomended more than 20% water change each time.
For exceptional cases you can do that.Because it is not going to make any differences

Regards
Sherman
oa- Marketing.com

Hi sherman, Do you have betta basics?

Hi Bro King,
I do not have betta basics.But my bro in law is an expert.

Regards
Sherman
oa-marketing