Can amonia enter the tank from say a cat litter box?

[sunfish11]

My tank is in wall and my fish room has two cat litter boxes in it. The room isn't really large. They are cleaned daily, but still at times you can smell amonia. Could this enter the tank via the skimmer air injector (one box is close to the skimmer air intake.) or just by having the amonia vapor and the water in the same room? It seems that it could...I have always had higher nitrates in this tank and I haven't been able to figure out where they are coming from yet, and I thought that perhaps this could have something to do with it. While I can't detect amonia on a test kit it think my tank could be used to the higher "bioload" of cats. :) I have cheato that and a 4 inch sand bed as well as 250lbs of live rock. Other params stay within normal range. Tank has been up for 16 months and inhabitants are healthy. Hard coral is growing, but slowly. LPS and softies are thriving. No algea, diatom, or cyano issues.

All test kits are Salifert.

PO4 - undetectable
Amonia - undetectable
Nitrite - undetectable
Nitrate - 40-50ppm
PH - 8.3
dkh - 9.6
Cal - 400
Temp - 79-81F


Thanks,

Lisa

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It will enter the water. However, I doubt it is a significant contribution relative to fish excretion etc.

This article has more in general:

Ammonia and the Reef Aquarium
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-02/rhf/index.php

[sunfish11]

I actually read that article before I asked my question...

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

:thumbsup:

I wouldn't worry about the cat ammonia unless you can detect any in the tank. :)

[sunfish11]

I have 5 cats so there is plenty of amonia. So if it is entering the tank and my biological filter is processing it quickly into nitrates, so it is undetectable, then it could in fact be contributing to my less than stellar nitrate levels. It is in a sense adding extra bioload to my tank. Would that be a true statement?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It is possible that it is contributing to nitrate, yes. Again, I expect it is a small contribution, but I don't know how badly your home smells. :D

Bioload is a complex question. Yes, it is potentially adding ammonia. But so would a small bit more food. The bigger issues with bioload, IMO, come in emergency situations like power failures or epidemic diseases.

[AIMFish]

What type of cat litter do you use? I use Litter Pearls and others like it.(I think they are silica based?) It absorbs the urine smell very well. I have one cat and one bag does last a month before I start smelling urine related odors!

[sunfish11]

It is possible that it is contributing to nitrate, yes. Again, I expect it is a small contribution, but I don't know how badly your home smells.

I just want to clarify that my house doesn't smell;) It is very large and very clean....Ok, that fishroom doesn't smell that good. LOL. With the skimmer intake sitting right next to the box I thought it could potentially be something I was overlooking. Thank you for your help!

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You're welcome.

Happy reefing. :)

[sunfish11]

I use tidy cat multiple cat scoopable. That other stuff is really, really expensive when you have 5 cats. They do get cleaned everyday but by the end of the day I can smell amonia. I also have an excellent nose. My husband doesn't smell it.

[boxfishpooalot]

Just to clarify, if you smell cat urine in the air that correlates to ammonia in the air too?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm not too familiar with cat urine ingredients. Human urine has little or no ammonia in it, but cats may.

[sunfish11]

Cat urine is very potent. So much so that cleaning the litter box with bleach can give off toxic fumes.

[Bri Guy]

Put an airstone in a bucket of water, next to the cat litter box and test it for ammonia, in a couple of days test again, if there is more ammonia in that water, you may have a problem.

Love your paintings BTW

[sunfish11]

Good idea Bri Guy. I will try it...and thanks for the compliment.:D

[Bri Guy]

Let us know what you come up with, im intrested to know!