Advanced question about ammonia reacting with air after transport. Confused? so am I please help.?

Question

Ok some woman said that once i get my fish from point a to point b just put them into the water and dont leave them in the water they were transported in or the air that enters the bag or in this case home depot bucket will cause a chemical reaction to take place with the ammonia that builds up in the water over transport creating a real toxic situation for the fish that will kill them if they are left in for acclimation. Is this legit or can I open the buckets halfway through the move (16 hours) to allow fresh air in for my fish. Also im using their tank water so wont the amonia convert to nitrite? Please shed some light on this situation. BTW they are being packed 1 or 2 to a 5 gallon bucket with 2-2.5 gallons of water and the rest air with two bag buddies per (1 per gallon) container. These are salt water fish and the biggest is a shark at 9 inches. Ask me for more details thanks.

Answer 1

EDIT FOR CLARITY

I can think of only one possible reason for the shop owner comment as far as a chemical reaction in the containers with your fish.

Background:

In a sealed container with live fish, CO2 will accumulate, which in turn will react with the water forming Carbonic acid and in turn the Carbonic acid will lower the pH or the water.

Also in that sealed container ammonia will accumulate. Ammonia exists in the water in two states or species; ionized and un-ionized. Ionized ammonia is relatively nontoxic to fish while un-ionized ammonia is the villain we as fish keepers have come to hate.

How much ammonia is ionized as compared to un-ionized is determined by two factors, temperature and pH. The lower the temperature and the lower the pH, the more ionized ammonia exists and the less un-ionized.

So...

Results:

As the ammonia accumulates in the container, so does CO2 and carbonic acid, lowering the pH and causing more and more of the ammonia to be ionized and rendered fairly safe. Once you unseal the container and allow the CO2 to come out of solution, the pH increases and causes the ammonia to de-ionize. This causes far more of the ammonia to be the dangerous sort very quickly which in turn could kill the fish.

You idea of stopping part way through the trip to open the containers should prevent an over accumulation of CO2 and prevent the process from becoming a problem. Keeping the temperature low will also help lower the toxicity of any ammonia present in the water.

I doubt enough bacteria will exist in the water to assist in the lowering of ammonia, but on such a relatively short trip it shouldn't be a problem.

Here's a link with more details. Though the charts show freshwater, the process is the same in saltwater only even more pronounced due to the higher pH levels and the lower tolerance the fish have for ammonia.
http://www.water.ncsu.edu/watershedss/info/nh3.html

Hope that helps

MM

Answer 2

Well this really starts to go beyond the scope of basic aquarium keeping, but I can tell you this much. I have two years of college Chemistry and I cannot think of any type of reaction that is going to occur with ammonia and air that would kill your fish. As a matter of fact, my Yellow tailed Arowana I recieve from Malaysia took four days of shipping time and he was healthy and lively in the bag. The person that told you this was way off base. You actually are more likely to kill your fish if you do not leave them in the bag they came in and slowly adjust the water temp and chemistry to the bag water and tank water. Do NOT dump the fish from the bag into your tank. That kind of shock could easily kill a fish. Slowly raise the water temp in the bag to the tank temp by adding a cup of the water to the bag water every 20-30 minutes. This also allows the fish to adjust to the water chemistry in your tank. In your shipping siuation, I don't think that the ammonia is going to get converted that much really. You need the gravel mostly or filter for that, not just the water. You can add oxygenation pills to the water to support that on your trip and you can add some stresszyme to help keep the fish stable for this trip. Mail me if you need any more help.

Answer 3

i've got self assurance "delivery" as in powered, steerable flight, is what the Questioner meant. you may no longer "steer" a warm air balloon to any holiday spot for delivery. Slowest could probable be a small Ultralight plane, that are legally guaranteed to stay below fifty 5 mph. i think of they might out-sluggish a blimp. :) quickest could probable be the SR-seventy one Blackbird, together as protection tension, can do a minimum of Mach 3. no longer a lot on transporting products and centers, yet can "haul the freight" for digital camera artwork, i assume. :) i'm no longer extremely helpful how a helicopter is "slowest", as you ( the Questioner) may well be mistaking soaring for sluggish. Being that "slowest" has no longer something to do with intentionally no longer using the throttle to go forward. that's like no longer using the accelerator pedal in a Ferrari and asserting its "slower" than a Kia. The helicopter can flow extremely speedy, so in basic terms no longer likely swifter would not make it slower. in straight forward terms it is layout obstacles can qualify it for that. Like I reported, an Ultralight plane is probable between the slowest, there is likewise the powered parachutes, that can delivery 2 people, and probable no swifter than 35 mph in point flight. so as that would qualify earlier to the UL plane, in case you chosen to contain it. i could, because it is a flying device and can delivery you someplace. when you consider that a rocket can holiday via air, it is recommended to contain that because of fact the quickest, even with the indisputable fact that looking one to take off and land is a difficulty ( Spaceship one among Burt Ruritan?, is a probably candidate, because it controlled to take off and land quite without delay. probable way above Mach 3. So, for a take-off and touchdown, i could qualify that next to the commute. :) The Gremlin guy

Answer 4

it is in fact better to allow air to circulate in the buckets as the minimal supply of oxygen can kill your fish. it would be ideal to encourage water movement and air circulations. since you are using buckets, slowly add water to them upon arrival, to equalize the conditions in the traveling container to those in the destination aquarium. it is never advisable to dump the fish right in to the receiving tank.