[Aqua-Digital]

To expand further the importance of monitoring Ammonia in a mature system. The open question remains, why also monitor NH4 as it is harmless?

If you have a worry or problem with NH4 then it is often a good idea to understand more about it.

NH4 (ammonium) is a nontoxic salt, it is the ionised form of toxic ammonia NH3. It is useful to understand that in the aquatic environment NH4 is not toxic, however it does have the ability to instantly change to NH3 with a change in pH and or tempertaure. This is why people often worry about high levels of NH4 when they do water tests, as NH4 accumulating is not harmful in its self it does have the ability to change to NH3.

Using traditional methods free ammonia (NH3) is very hard to measure so normally people measure non-toxic ammonium (NH4) in the aquarium and pond and use this as a guide to safe levels of NH3. In true terms NH4 is a nontoxic substance in the aquarium, however due to the equilibrium which occurs between NH3 / NH4 at a given pH and temperature it is better to measure NH4 as an indicator of NH3 than nothing at all. Interpretation of NH4 to estimate NH3 is most often done by a chart supplied with the test kit or by a calculation online. If you are using these methods as a guide to NH3 in the aquarium do not expect it to exactly match your seneye. All measurements devices and test kits will have some error and when you are using 3 different measurements in a calculation a small inaccuracy on each can heavily skew the result. The calculations and look up tables do not take into account ionic strength or air pressure which can both influence the NH3 / NH4 balance.

A seneye device will measure deadly NH3 directly, if you have a seneye reef device you will also get an NH4 widget on your seneye.me dashboard. To provide this we do a calculation derived from the known pH, temp and NH3 reported by your seneye device. For the same reasons stated above it should only be used as a rough guide.

Please note: Ammonia and ammonium (NH3+NH4) together are usually described as TAN or total ammonia nitrogen. Often test kits measure TAN not NH4 or NH3, this can make accurate NH3 calculations even harder.

Looking at the screen shots below you will see the direct relationship of the NH4 level and pH level, as pH rises the NH4 level drops.



For information about where to purchase Seneye in North America or to stock Seneye in your store please email info@seneye-usa.com

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