Post by guppyguy on Jun 28, 2013 17:02:27 GMT -5
Have you ever read or been told that a cloudy aquarium is caused by ammonia in the water? This picture shows an aquarium with 50 ppm (mg/l) ammonia. It is crystal clear. Ammonia is colorless and odorless when found in aquarium water. Ammonia-based cleaners contain ammonium hydroxide and have that ammonia smell. This is not the same as we find in aquariums. So how did that cloudy water-ammonia connection get started? Often times when an aquarium is new, over-fed or over-stocked the water gets cloudy AND the ammonia level rises. The cloud is normally a bacteria bloom that feeds on organic waste and uneaten fish food. The ammonia surge is caused by an undeveloped biological filter or too many fish for the existing biofilter to handle. So...we can have cloudy water and ammonia, cloudy water and no ammonia or clear water with a lot of ammonia. How to decipher the facts? Use an ammonia test kit.
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