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Understanding toxicity impacts between pH level and Ammonia. How does pH affect the toxicity of ammonia? Table 1 - the Nitrification and Ammonification process. The Ammonia reading you get from test kits is actually the sum of Total Ammonia - which is made up of Ammonia NH3 + Ammonium NH4. At low levels of pH (lower than 6.0), ammonification occurs. Remember, pH is an inverse count of Hydrogen (H). At low pH, you have more Hydrogen. At high pH, you have less. At these low levels of pH (high acidity), the ammonia NH3 'absorbs' (for lack of a better word), an extra Hydrogen ion -> becoming NH4 or ammonium. The reason Ammonium is less toxic to fish and shrimp is because NH4 with that added Hydrogen H ion is now less permeable to the gills of fish & shrimp. NH4 is also excreted across the gills via a carrier mediated process in exchange for sodium Na+. Ammonia toxicity is also influenced by temperature: The lower the temperature the less toxic it becomes. Or to put it another way - NH3 toxicity increases with temperature and pH. Percent NH3 of total ammonia Temp pH 6.5 pH 7.0 pH 7.5 pH 8.0 pH 8.5 20C / 68F 0.13 0.40 1.24 8.82 11.2 25C / 77F 0.18 0.57 1.77 5.38 15.3 28C / 82F 0.22 0.70 2.17 6.56 18.2 30C / 86F 0.26 0.80 2.48 7.46 20.3 Table 2. Un-ionized NH3 as a percent of total ammonia (by temperature and pH). Assuming a temp of 28C and a pH of 7.0 - if 5ppm of ammonia is present this results in only .03 ppm ammonia. However, in a Tanganyikan Cichlids tank with a pH of 9.0, that has a Total Ammonia of 5 ppm, your ammonia level is 2.06 ppm! This now become toxic for the fish. But, at a pH of 6.0, and 10 ppm of Total Ammonia, the ammonia is only .007 ppm. Even though we have MORE ammonia. So be cautious when performing water changes in a low pH tank, as the low pH has an adverse affect on the nitrifying bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite. Because of the acidity these bacteria populations can drop so low that any change in alkalinity can cause the Total Ammonia reading to rise quickly. While the pH stays low the Total Ammonia reading is nearly all ammonium, but if you do a water change or add an alkalinity buffer to the system, the ammonium can be quickly converted to ammonia, potentially causing ammonia poisoning. It is good to note here that, as per the very top picture (table1) ... nitrifying bacteria that convert ammonia NH3 to Nitrate (NO3) does NOT convert Ammonium NH4 to a less toxic form. The bacteria isn't present in sufficient amounts in such low pH environments to process it. Ammonium NH4 is ever present in a low pH tank that has living creatures in it. NH4 is in there ready to be converted into NH3 at the first sign of added alkalinity during water changes. Hence, why we always tell you to match water parameters and add it into the tank slowly (drip it in if you can), don't dump in buckets of new water all at once. So in summary, the combination of low pH (<6) and cool temperatures that the shrimp live in can mean that high ammonia levels are not toxic to them. But be careful !!! Any change in the pH buffer that increases alkalinity will cause the toxic ammonia to immediately convert from NH4 to NH3. There you go. Hopefully that is a more precise explanation to aid your understanding. The ideal spot to be is just above 6.1 to 6.5, where bacteria still function, and ammonia is less toxic. Along with the cool temperatures some shrimp (or fish) live in, is the best environment to be in to minimise ammonia poisoning. I wonder how many times our shrimp die in hot temps, (say due to hot weather ... maybe even a broken heater) not because of the heat, but because our low pH tanks have not enough functioning bacteria to cope with the sudden change in toxic NH3 ammonia due to the rise in temps??? Food for thought.

water parameters looking good.

Yeah, I was very careful to not write that there wouldn't be any nitrification below pH6. Only that it would slow, due to reduced numbers of bacteria. Any sudden change in ammonia levels or pH rising, and the existing low population of beneficial bacteria won't be able to handle the load. I have done that. It works. Not that I have seen your post on Planted tank. Just something I have done myself. I raised BB (beneficial bacteria) and media in a tub, but I seeded it with some old filter gunk. I was too lazy for it to seed naturally, that takes months. I even fed the BB with sugar and ammonia. It's very effective. The sugar is like adding nitrous to boost an engine. Gave it 2 weeks to fester with a strong air pump. You mention high temp and pH above, but don't forget high oxygen! lots of aeration is needed for healthy BB. And poured it into a new tank. Instant cycle. Yes the tank looked nasty for a few days. But once it settled, it was clear as glass. I don't think I have ever recommended it to anyone ... it's too messy a process. I started out with my tap water, which is a perfect 8.0. You don't need to fiddle with the pH either. don't forget that part of the natural nitrification process, BB take NH3, strip it of N (nitorgen) and leave H (hydrogen). More H = lower pH !!! Magic. That tub which started out at pH 8, got down to pH6.7 ish after a couple of weeks.

Update: Still feeding the Oil Infused Bug Bites. A few shrimp( the two farthest along with the disease) still show signs, but look much better. No more deaths. Also, tons of babies showing up. I counted 15 earlier, most are black crystals...... probably should have left those out??, oh well! Just did a 2 gallon water change, Added some Shrimp Fit, Baby Shrimp, BacterAE, and Marks Shrimp Tanks Montmorillonite Clay. Water Parameters: PH: 6.4 GH:5-6 KH:1-0 TDS 115 Temp:68f Ammonia: 0ppm

Hello folks, One of my berried RWP finally hatched babies after a 48 day incubation period. That seems really long, but I guess the water temperature was on the cool side at 66F over most of this time. My only question really is if baby shrimp are supposed to just stand around motionless the first few days? They will swim a few cm and move away when a large shrimp moves by, but otherwise they just stay in one spot for hours at a time, not even grazing with their little claws. This is the third day since hatching and I still don't see any that are grazing. The adult shrimp seem to be doing ok, although they are a little quieter today. (Maybe some are waiting to molt) Water parameters should be in the range for bee shrimp. (pH ~5.7, TDS 120, GH5) Feeding schedule is mostly unchanged: shrimp food once a week, one chunk of mulberry leaf that gets finished in 3-4 days, and one dose of Bacter AE per week. (Although this time I dosed twice to try and grow some last-minute biofilm). The only thing I am not really sure about is if there is enough biofilm around. Nitrates have been at zero for a long time, and some plants are yellowing. There are splotches of algae on the glass and plants, and there is a wad of moss, but I never see the adult shrimp graze on these areas, so maybe it is the "wrong" kind of algae?

I find Paratya are the easiest. The variety you can buy online from livefish.com.au certainly reproduce easily. I have Paratya sprinkled into ponds and various unheated and heated tanks for algae control so they cope with a wide variety of temps. They do die off a bit in outdoor ponds in Melbourne in winter when water can be < 10C. Chameleon shrimp will also certainly go ballistic under the right conditions but I also find they will stop breeding and the population will decline but persist with lower numbers. I try to keep Chameleons in a couple of tanks at any one time to ensure I don't lose them. Mine do OK on Mulberry leaves but I think they like a bit of protein. The best numbers I had were in a tank with some catfish that died and the shrimp ate them and bred like crazy.

I’ve only ever dosed about 1/4 the recommended dose for this tank, on any of this stuff. What I added, was maybe 1/5 of a spoon worth for everything. Right now, Shrimp Fit and Shrimp Baby are added only during water changes, BacterAE is every other day. No ammonia spikes of water parameters/ammonia changes from that dosing regimen.

You must be so excited and relieved. It was worth the wait though! Baby shrimp (probably like a lot of creatures) don't move very far at all, I assume it is natures way of helping them survive as the mother would have had them somewhere safe? Of coarse with no predators that can be anywhere in a tank but that instinct to not go far will still be there. It is why it is very difficult to raise baby shrimps in a large tank unless there is enough biofilm as you can't really feed them as it needs to be powder to be small enough and it needs to get to the shrimp wherever they are! You may also scare the babies when you go to the tank as again they would probably 'freeze' if they think they are at some sort of risk - again that happens with a lot of baby animals but they will learn that you are no threat but actually friendly with time. I did try and feed the babies (if ever I get some this time I will start again) with 'chi ebi' but there are lots of baby/powder foods available, but if you do that be very sparing. I dip a tooth pick in the water (only about 5mm), then in the powder, then back into the tank and swirl it around and HOPE some gets to the right places - I work on the assumption some is better than none, but too much is bad. The more time goes by the more active and adventurous they will become. It isn't unusual for people to think that no babies were born for a few weeks because of this staying in one spot and being so tiny, many people are surprised a few weeks later? Hope they do really well and we may see some photos one day? Simon

don't add too much stuff at once or you'll pollute the water

good to know