Ammonia

In pristine natural environments, free nitrogenous compounds such as ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are extremely scarce, virtually all the available nitrogen is 'locked away' as plant or animal protein.

But today, with increased farming activities can be affected by high levels of ammonia and nitrite. The major routes of entry of nitrogenous waste into shrimp ponds are unconsumed feed, fecal matter, dead algae etc.

Ammonia is constantly being produced in shrimp aquaculture environments with increased stocking densities. Small amounts of ammonia can be traced to the diffusion of blood across the gill membranes of shrimp, but the majority of ammonia is produced through the process of mineralization which involves the conversion of waste products in the pond to ammonia by heterotrophic bacteria. The symptoms of high ammonia and nitrite:

• Low oxygen levels
• Excessive green water or filamentous algae
• Excessive sludge
• Poor flavor of shrimp due to poor water quality
• Stressed animals
• Many diseases
• Poor conversion efficiency excessive nitrogen and phosphorus in effluent.