AMMONIA & NITRITE

• In pond water, Ammonia is the major toxic component

produced continuously by shrimps during culture
• It can also accumulate in the water due to
the decomposition of organic solids such as excess
feed and faeces (Lin and Chen 2003).

• Of all the water quality parameters which affect

shrimp, ammonia is the most important after oxygen,
especially in intensive systems.
• In small amounts, ammonia causes stress and gill
damage.
• In Total Ammonia 60–90% of is excreted by Shrimps
out of which 9 – 27% is urea
• Shrimp exposed to low levels of ammonia over time
are more susceptible to bacterial infections
• Ammonia is a killer when present in higher
concentrations
• Causes poor growth
NITROGEN CYCLE
• In water, Ammonia present in two forms, Ionized
(NH4+) and un-ionized (NH3) which together are
called the Total Ammonia Nitrogen (TAN)

• In these two, un-ionized (NH3) ammonia is very

danger

Un-
ionized
ammon
ia
• The toxicity of Un-ionized (NH3) ammonia begins as
low as 0.03mg/l

• There is no direct method to detect Un-ionized (NH3)

ammonia
• pH and Temperature will also influence the Un-ionized
(NH3) ammonia levels

• First we have to find out the Total Ammonia Nitrogen

• Then from the following table we will get the toxic Un-
ionized (NH3) ammonia levels
To calculate the amount of un-ionized (NH3) ammonia present, the Total
Ammonia Nitrogen (TAN) must be multiplied by the appropriate factor
selected from this chart using the pH and temperature from water sample
pH Temperature ˚C
24 26 28 30 32
7.0 .0052 .0060 .0069 .0080 .0093

7.2 .0083 .0096 .0110 .0126 .0150

7.4 .0131 .0150 .0173 .0198 .0236

7.6 .0206 .0236 .0271 .0310 .0369

7.8 .0322 .0370 .0423 .0482 .0572

8.0 .0502 .0574 .0654 .0743 .0877

8.2 .0772 .0880 .0998 .1129 .1322

8.4 .1171 .1326 .1495 .1678 .1948

8.6 .1737 .1950 .2178 .2422 .2768

8.8 .2500 .2774 .3062 .3362 .3776

9.0 .3456 .3783 .4116 .4453 .4902

 Influence of other parameters

• An increase in pH leads to increased ammonia toxicity

• An increase in temperature leads to increased ammonia
and nitrite toxicity
• A decrease in salinity leads to increased ammonia and
nitrite toxicity for most shrimp species
• A decrease in DO leads to increased ammonia and
nitrite toxicity
• Younger individuals are more susceptible to toxic
effects
• A decease in salinity ammonia becomes more toxic
Influence of pH on the percentage
of un-ionized (NH3) ammonia

pH range of the
shrimp culture ponds
Toxic un-ionized
ammonia (%)

Ionized
ammonia (%)
 Influence of pH & Temperature
on un-ionized (NH3) ammonia

Time Total Temperature pH Un-ionized

Ammonia Ammonia

8Am 1ppm 28 7.6 0.02

4PM 1ppm 30 9.0 0.44

22 times increase
 Relative toxicity of Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate

Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate

Happy 0.0 ppm 0.0 ppm 0.0 ppm

Sad 0.5 ppm 2.0 ppm 25 ppm

Sick 1.0 ppm 3.0 ppm 50 ppm

Varies by
Dead >1.0 ppm >3.0 ppm
species
 NITRITE

Nitrite toxicity varies greatly between species and life

stages, a concentration at 4 ppm of NO2− for 2 days
will reduce the growth but did not affect survival
(Amit Gross, Shal Abutbul, Dina Zilberg-Sep 2014
• Concentrations of nitrite of up to 2.5 and 10 mg/L
are acceptable for the rearing of L. vannamei in
salinities of 8 ppt and 24 ppt

• Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (nitrifying bacteria)

converts un-ionized ammonia to nitrite
• Nitrite itself is not as toxic as ammonia but is still
very detrimental to the health of the shrimps
• High levels of nitrite irritates the body surface
and gills
• Higher levels of nitrite binds with the copper ions
in the haemolymph and thus reduce its carrying
capacity of oxygen
• The physiological and histological effects of
nitrite on invertebrates is not well studied and
thus Nitrite toxicity on L. Vannamei is also has to
be studied further
 Factors influencing Nitrite levels

• Water temperature
• Higher the temperature higher the toxicity

• Water Salinity
• Higher the salinity lower the toxicity

• Water Hardness
• Higher the hardness lower the toxicity

• Water pH
• Lower the pH higher the toxicity
• Nitrite is quickly transported across gill
membrane by lamellar chloride cells
• These lamellar chloride cells can’t distinguish
between Nitrite (NO2-) and chloride (Cl-)
 Toxic effects of Nitrite

• Gill hypertrophy

• Hyperplasia

• Haemorrhages

• Necrotic lessions in the appendages

• Increasing susceptibility to infectious diseases

BYUCCA 30
 500GMS/1000M3 ON DAY 1 & 3 . Check the levels and repeat the dose

ECOBEAT TABS
 70 tabs/1000M3 alternative days 4 applications

AMEX
 2L/1000M3 Single dose for high ammonia, 500ML/1000M3 for every 15
days

MACRO PS
 4L/1000M3 weekly dose

 GUTACT PREMIUM
 5GMS/KG Feed for 5 days in one feed
Relative toxicity of Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate