What is ammonia?

Ammonia is excreted by the fish as a waste product. It is extremely toxic to the fish, and is broken down into less toxic nitrite by the beneficial bacteria in the filter of your pond.

Why test for ammonia?

Any ammonia present in the pond water will cause major health problems for the fish. Toxic ammonia can build up in ponds where there are not sufficient beneficial filter bacteria to deal with the total waste from all the fish in the pond. This situation can arise in new ponds, when new fish are added, when the filter bacteria have been disrupted (e.g during cleaning), or during accidental mis-dosing of pond medications.

What do I do if the ammonia level is wrong?

If a level of 0.2 mg/l (ppm) is recorded then add a filter booster such as Koi Care Filter Bugs. If a level above this is recorded then a substantial water change is essential. Change 25% of the pond volume for 0.5 – 1.0 mg/L (ppm) ammonia and 50% to 75% for ammonia levels above this. Koi Care Zeolite will remove ammonia from pond water, and can be recharged. If you do record an ammonia level in your pond, then it is important to check other vital water quality parameters, especially Oxygen, pH and Nitrite