In an aquarium, Ammonia (NH3) is produced from the waste of fish and invertebrates and released through diffusion from the gills of fish during osmoregulation as well as from bacterial decomposition of excess food, decaying plant material and decomposing animal material. Ammonia poses huge problem all living organisms in high amounts due to its toxic nature.
The effects of continuous exposure to ammonia in fish can be lethal and will cause severe gill damage leading to suffocation, kidney damage due to inability to osmoregulate, and the increased inability to secrete ammonia from the body resulting in metabolic and physiological imbalance. Even at lower levels, ammonia can reduce growth rate and damage to gill filament tissue in a fish, loss of equilibrium, convulsions and then death.
Ammonia exists in two forms, namely, un-ionized (NH3) and ionized (NH4+). Both forms are measured together and are referred to as total ammonia.
The levels of ammonia in an aquarium can be reduced by a efficient and effective biological filtration. With good filtration, ammonia level should always be kept zero. The aquarium design, number of fish and feeding regime are factors that affects the level of ammonia concentration.
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