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Re: Nitrites and pH



> > Keeping the pH from going low in the presence of nitrites and heavy metals,
> > or high if a lot of ammonia is present, is a prudent thing to do to keep
> > from simply poisoning your fish with these pH-related toxins. 
> > 
> > Wright
> 
> 
> 
> I am curious about one of your statements.  You stated that a low pH in
> the presence of nitrites is bad, can you elaborate on this?
> 
> Bob Ashcraft
> Pittsburgh, PA

No-one else jumped in on this - I think that NO2- is pretty toxic but that
HNO2 is a good deal worse, and the pKa of HNO2 is about 5.2, meaning
that the two will have equal concentrations at pH 5.2.  At 6.2 there will
be 10 times as much NO2- as HNO2, at 4.2 10 times as much HNO2 as NO2-


-- 
Paul Sears        Ottawa, Canada