ammonia removers

[Eddie]

I was just curious about ammonia removing products. What is the purpose of these items such as water treatments, media. Isn't the biological filter supposed to handle ammonia? If your bio-filtration handles all this what would be the purpose of these products in the first place? Gee wiz question......thanks :o

[Ardan]

Hi,
2 instances when they might help.
if there is something that impairs the filter and you need it for an emergency.

or
if you have chloramines in tap water (chlorine + ammonia)


hth
Ardan

[Eddie]

i'M THINKING i NEED AN EMERGENCY! Will ammo lock work? Can't find any ammonia removing media on this island. Live in the Azores Portugal

[ronrca]

Seachem Prime also works! Ammonia removers can be usefull as Ardan mentions but otherwise a waste of money. They actually tell ppl to put these things in their filters all the time to prevent ammonia spikes!:shocked: Pardon me? In a established tank, there should be no ammonia spikes and if there is, there is a problem that needs to be fixed, not bandaged!

[RyanH]

I've always been leary of quick chemical fixes. If the ammonia problem is not linked to your water supply, IMO the best remedy is large water changes. Change your water and save your money. JMHO. :)

[RandalB]

There's actually no such thing as an "Ammonia Remover" They don't remove the ammonia, they convert it to a less toxic form. The BioFilter still has to process it to Nitrate.

In an emergency, products like Prime, Amquel and Ammo-Lock will help until you do a waterchange. The problem is still there, so do a W/C ASAP...

RandalB

[Eddie]

How about if my bio filtration is gone or dead. Keep doing the water changes and lay off the chemicals.

[Ardan]

wc's are best, :) I agree 100% with Randal


however when treating certain diseases, wc's are not so good (bacterial infections get worse with wc's) then maybe use a ph adjuster (acidic= ammonia less toxic, but nitrite more toxic,

nitrite is less toxic in alkaline water)

or prime etc

hth
Ardan

[Anonapersona]

I was just curious about ammonia removing products. What is the purpose of these items such as water treatments, media. Isn't the biological filter supposed to handle ammonia? If your bio-filtration handles all this what would be the purpose of these products in the first place? Gee wiz question......thanks :o

If your water has chloramines, you need a water treatment that can detox the ammonia that is released when the chloramine bond is broken.

If your water does not have chloramines, but has chlorine, you may still want to use something that handles chloramines well as chlorine in case the water company changes one day with out notifying you, or in case the source water occasionally has ammonia in it and naturally forms chlormine from that.

In addition, if you suffer a power outage or filter failure, or your spouse does a water change for you one day while you are out of town and then forgets to turn the filters back on until the next morning (thanks honey!) then you will want to do a water change and still use some ammonia remover in the tank just in case the filter is not up to normal capacity for a day or so.

I know that Prime will allow the biofilter to work normally, I think that Amquell does as well, but Ammo-lock seems to starve the biofilter so be careful using that one in certain situations.

[Eddie]

if the bio filtration is totally gone due to a power outage, how can I re-establish it. In other words, in using prime or amquel can I recycle my tank or not? Also, Ammo-lock says right on the bottle that the bio filter can consume the converted ammonia. Is this incorrect?

[Ardan]

HIi,
Supposedly yes to both questions.
I have never done it.
Also prime gives you false readings on ammonia/nitrite so how do you know when its cycled?
hth
Ardan

[Eddie]

with ammo lock, the readings are also false. I would assume that the readings will become zero as the ammonia content gets consumed by the bio filtrition. assuming the bio-filter gets re-established. Hopefully I'm right :o

[Anonapersona]

if the bio filtration is totally gone due to a power outage, how can I re-establish it. In other words, in using prime or amquel can I recycle my tank or not? Also, Ammo-lock says right on the bottle that the bio filter can consume the converted ammonia. Is this incorrect?

Over on the goldfish boards I noticed an occasional problem with a tank that never ever cycled. It appeared that the ammonia controlling chemicals they were using were locking up the ammonia too well, and the biofilter starved to death, then they had to cycle all over from the start.

I've never used this product, I do not know if this is true, but that is how it looked to me. I am no expert. I use Prime and I know that it does allow the biofilter to function. I am totally comfortable dosing the entire tank with this during water changes every other day.

When I went on this last vacation, the tank went 5 days with no water changes, everyone was fine with a single daily feeding, looks like one fish has a scrape from driftwood, but that's all.

[Eddie]

Just ordered some prime yesterday. Needs to get here quick like

[Carol_Roberts]

Unless you have killed your bio with chlorine/chloramine the bio will regrow in a couple of weeks. Jsut do water changes to keep ammonia close to zero - you may have to change water two or more times per day ;)

[Eddie]

should I not use Ammo Lock? still waiting for my PRIME

[Carol_Roberts]

Personally if I compromise a filter I just do a couple of big water changes (with aged water) each day until the biobed grows back. I read the ammonia morning and night and try to keep it close to zero. Feed sparingly. The bio grows back in a week or two. I don't like the false positives with prime and ammolock. I do not have chlorine or chloramines in my well water.

[Multiclone]

I use Zeolite for individual tanks it can be placed in a box filter or canister filter. Not only is it good for ammonia it becomes a bio filter as well. I buy it from swimming pool supply shops about $1 or $2 a kilo in 20 kilo bags. It can also be recharged by soaking in salt water. It's filtering capacity is excellent 1-5 microns which is better than diatomacious earth which is 5 microns.

Geoff