How to Check Ammonia and Nitrate Levels in Aquarium

High ammonia and nitrate levels can be dangerous for aquarium fish. Fortunately, you can easily test your tank water to ensure that it’s safe.

Here, we’re going to go over how to safely monitor your aquarium’s ammonia and nitrate levels to keep your fish healthy.

The Dangers of Ammonia and Nitrate

The nitrogen cycle is an important part of your aquarium’s ecosystem, helping to remove toxins while adding essential nutrients to the water. 

Organic material such as fish food, waste products, and decomposing plant matter breaks down naturally in a fish tank to produce ammonia. 

In a healthy tank, this ammonia gets broken down into safer components by colonies of nitrifying bacteria. 

One of the end products of this process is nitrate. In this form, aquarium plants can absorb and utilize nitrogen. Nitrates are also safer for fish populations in a tank than pure ammonia. 

A tank’s nitrogen cycle is easy to knock out of balance with common care mistakes such as overfed fish, unclean water, a large tank population, or a fluctuating pH.

High levels of ammonia or nitrates can cause a whole host of different problems in otherwise healthy fish. 

Ammonia Vs. Nitrates

Ammonia, NH3, and ammonium, NH4, are both incredibly toxic to fish and plant life. Rising levels can quickly cause health complications, illness, and even death. 

Nitrate, NO3, is much less toxic to fish than ammonia. It’s even beneficial to have low nitrate levels present in your tank to encourage healthy plant growth.

While nitrate is less toxic than ammonia, it can still cause health problems over time. As it accumulates in the water, it can poison fish much more slowly than ammonia.

High Ammonia Levels

High ammonia levels in your tank can quickly lead to symptoms of ammonia poisoning in fish. 

One of the most common symptoms of ammonia poisoning is panting or difficulty breathing. Inflammation around the gills or anus may also point to ammonia toxicity.

Some fish will display behavioral changes such as lethargy or a disrupted appetite. In extreme cases, otherwise active fish may rest towards the top or bottom of the tank.

In advanced cases of ammonia poisoning, you may notice certain color changes taking place in some fish. The gills may turn red or lilac as their bodies begin to fail.

Ammonia poisoning can happen fast, so it’s important that you take action as soon as you notice any symptoms.

High Nitrate Levels

While nitrate is much less toxic than ammonia, it can still cause damage in high concentrations. High nitrate levels can even kill fish if left unchecked. 

When nitrate levels rise slowly in a tank, fish may suffer from nitrate poisoning over time. 

Symptoms are similar to those of ammonia poisoning, though they may be less severe or less noticeable. 

Nitrate poisoning is most often the result of a poorly maintained tank. As organic waste decomposes, it gradually raises nitrate levels in the water.

Nitrate shock occurs when concentrations in a tank change suddenly, whether this means higher or lower nitrate levels. 

Shock most commonly occurs when a fish gets introduced into a new aquarium with drastically different nitrate levels than their home tank.

Ideal Ammonia and Nitrate Levels

Ammonia is toxic to both plants and fish and so should be present in levels at or close to 0 ppm. Even trace amounts of ammonia in the water can cause lasting damage to your tank’s ecosystem. 

Nitrate levels don’t necessarily need to be at zero in a healthy tank. In fact, tanks with live plants need small amounts of nitrates in the water to survive.

You must carefully regulate tank nitrate levels to ensure that they don’t rise too high, but similarly, you don’t want them dropping too low.

Nitrate levels should be below at least 25 ppm in a healthy freshwater tank. However, this can still be too high for delicate or sensitive fish breeds.

If you notice algae growing unchecked in your tank, you may want to reduce nitrate levels even further to prevent growth.

When dealing with an algal bloom, you should reduce water nitrate levels to between 5 and 10 ppm. That way, algae can’t access the nitrogen that it needs to thrive.

How to Test Ammonia Levels in an Aquarium

Ammonia is a colorless and odorless gas, making it difficult to detect in a tank setup.

It’s a good idea to test for ammonia at least once a week to ensure that your aquarium is healthy and balanced. 

If you notice fish displaying symptoms of ammonia poisoning, you may want to test your water even more frequently. 

You can find ammonia test kits for fish tanks at most pet stores. The most common type of test is a strip kit. 

To use a strip kit, simply take the dedicated paper strip and dip the end in water. A chemical in the paper reacts with ammonia to produce a yellow to green color.

Strip kits come with a color comparison chart to help you read the results of the test. Generally, yellow means ammonia levels are at or close to zero, while green indicates a higher reading.

Strip kits are fast-acting and easy to read, even for beginners. However, they aren’t the most accurate method for testing ammonia levels.

Salicylate ammonia tests are more accurate than strip tests, especially at low levels. However, they can be pricier than strip tests, and it may take longer to see results.

Instead of using a strip covered in reactive chemicals, you combine your water sample directly with a carefully measured amount of solution. 

After a set amount of time, the water’s color will change based on ammonia concentration. As with strip kits, salicylate ammonia test results rely on a color comparison chart.

How to Test Nitrate Levels in an Aquarium

Testing for nitrate levels in a tank is similar to testing for ammonia. Nitrate test kits work similarly to ammonia tests, though they use different chemicals for detection. 

Most commercial nitrate tests require you to combine a few drops of tank water with a specially formulated nitrate test solution.

Like salicylate ammonia tests, it can take a few moments for nitrate tests to work.

Once the reaction is complete, the color of the water will have changed depending on nitrate concentrations.

Most tests use a color scale that ranges from yellow to dark red. Yellow indicates that nitrate levels may be too low, while dangerously high levels show up red.

Ideally, you want your weekly nitrate test to show up dark yellow to orange. 

These colors mean that there are enough nitrates for aquarium plant life without poisoning any fish populations. 

Reducing Ammonia and Nitrate Concentrations

The best way to prevent ammonia or nitrate poisoning in your tank is to monitor water quality carefully.

You should test water at least once per week, making sure to keep a log of data. Doing this can help to give you some insight into your tank’s long-term health.

Testing regularly also allows you to experiment with what works and what doesn’t when treating your tank water.

Often, new tank setups contain dangerous levels of ammonia. The internal nitrogen cycle has not yet established itself, allowing ammonia to build up unchecked.

Many new fish owners make the mistake of failing to cycle their tanks before adding fish. You should always complete this process when setting up a new tank or deep cleaning an old one.

Cycling a tank introduces colonies of bacteria that regulate the nitrogen cycle. Without a healthy number of bacteria in your tank, ammonia from organic waste won’t break down properly.

Spending a few weeks cycling your tank before populating it ensures that the water has safe and healthy ammonia and nitrate levels. 

Removing Ammonia From Your Tank

If ammonia levels rise in an established tank setup, it can cause issues quickly. You must remove excess ammonia from your tank as quickly as possible to prevent damage to fish and plant life. 

Many pet stores sell chemical detoxifiers that offer immediate results. They bind to and neutralize ammonia particles, helping to lower the overall concentration. 

You can also find dedicated ammonia removers. These specialized filters use a charged substrate to completely remove ammonia molecules from the water. 

One of the cheapest and easiest ways to immediately lower ammonia levels in a tank is to change the water. 

It’s best to replace around half of your tank’s water each day until ammonia levels drop to zero.

Removing Nitrates From Your Tank

While nitrates might not be as deadly as ammonia, you still want to keep levels low in your tank.

When nitrate levels start to rise, the best way to keep them in check is by changing your tank’s water.

Keep in mind, however, that drastic changes in concentration can lead to nitrate shock. 

You should swap out water slowly over the course of a week or two so that your fish can tolerate the change.

For persistently high nitrate levels, you may want to consider opting for filter media designed to remove nitrates from the water.

In Conclusion

High ammonia and nitrate levels can be dangerous for aquarium life. Both fish and plants alike can suffer when water composition is out of balance.

Regularly testing your aquarium water is one of the best ways to keep your fish healthy and comfortable. Even beginners can check ammonia and nitrate levels using easy-to-read tests. 

If you notice that ammonia or nitrate levels within your tank are abnormally high, you must act quickly. 

It’s important to take immediate steps to reduce the level of toxins such as ammonia in the water to avoid damage to your aquarium’s ecosystem.

With proper care and due diligence, you can maintain ideal conditions in your home aquarium for happier, healthier fish.

Other articles you may also like: