Help with transport, please?

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

• 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:

  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