Ammo chip time?

LogJam

LogJam

Learning more all the time...
Mar 30, 2005
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Hello,

I placed ammo chips in the little nylon bag in order to reduce the ammonia reading I had (0.5).

How do I know when to remove the bag, when my liquid test kit shows a reading of zero? Is it possible to leave them in the tank too long?

Thanks,
LogJam
 
No it won't hurt to have it in there extended periods, it's great to have if you have a fairly new tank setup and have to take a few days out of town.

Otherwise, forget any ammonia removing product (and I mean any!) and simply beef up your biological filtration or scale down the number of fish you have. Most hang-on-back filters are adequate in the biological filtration department.

How old is this tank setup? How big is it? How many/what kind/what size fish you have? What kind of filter? The more info we have the more we can help!

But in all, ammonia removing products like ammochips are for **short term emergency** use only. Long term, you must get the biological filter going, it's much cheaper (bacteria work for free!) and nearly hassle free, not to mention more reliable.
 
Hello All:

Thanks for your responses. My 46 gallon bowfront is about 1 month old. My readings:

pH: 7.6
KH: 180
GH: 150
Ammonia: 0.5
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0

I use a Tetra Whisper Power Filter 40. I am stocked with 6 zebras and 2 corys. My LFS told me the ammonia is enough to cause stress to the fish, but not at a "panic state" and can be overcome.

Thanks,
LogJam
 
hmmm....sounds to me like because of your small bio load (the fish you currently have) your tank is just NOW starting to cycle.

something I would REALLY recommend is bio-spira. It is live bio-spira (bacteria that takes away ammonia and nitrites) that you add to the tank and most fish only LFSs will have it in the refrigerated section.

OTHERWISE just perform partial water changes to keep it from getting too high.
 
I'll have to respectfully disagree with XseaNX on the water changes, you really do want the ammonia in your tank to complete the cycle--- it tends to need to build up to a threshold before it "topples over" and cycle. But you do NOT want the ammonia just as it is- free (ie, very toxic) ammonia. Use something like AMMO-LOCK to convert it to a less harmful type (it may give you a goofy ammonia reading) or add a good bit of plant life if you have 2 watts per gallon or more. Once converted to ammonium (less harmful) it can still complete the cycle. I'd dose it daily, but on the light side of the dosing amount.

And IME, .5 is a panic range, but not quite "head for the hills" panic. All depends on what kind of fish (and what you paid for them).
 
At what level does the ammonia need to rise to "topple over" and cycle?


Thanks!
LogJam
 
I would recomend adding the bio-spira as well. After that test your water everyday. If the ammonia is high then change the water at least 50%. After a week or so everthing should stablize. You do not need to add chemicals to remove the ammonia.
 
Mako said:
I'll have to respectfully disagree with XseaNX on the water changes, you really do want the ammonia in your tank to complete the cycle--- it tends to need to build up to a threshold before it "topples over" and cycle. But you do NOT want the ammonia just as it is- free (ie, very toxic) ammonia. Use something like AMMO-LOCK to convert it to a less harmful type (it may give you a goofy ammonia reading) or add a good bit of plant life if you have 2 watts per gallon or more. Once converted to ammonium (less harmful) it can still complete the cycle. I'd dose it daily, but on the light side of the dosing amount.

And IME, .5 is a panic range, but not quite "head for the hills" panic. All depends on what kind of fish (and what you paid for them).
Click to expand...

I think this topic has been discussed before, however: It doesnt matter if there is .5ppm or 5ppm the rate at which the bacteria will grow will still be the same. Which means letting it build up isnt going to do any good. Even with the use of ammo-chips I wouldnt just assume everything is fine and dandy I would still perform waterchanges.

Log just remember that after ammonia is the nitrite cycle which IME is a lot worse than ammonia on fish (not to mention levels take a slight bit longer to drop to a 0 reading) just make sure you have salt available to help with any nitrite poisoning when the level starts to spike.

and just so you know incase you dont the reason why ammonia and nitrites are soo bad is because it effects the fish's ability to take in oxygen. Imagine a room with 20 people all smoking, with no windows or cracked doors. Eventually they wouldnt be able to breath and would passout/die. Same concept with ammonia and nitrites. THIS is why its important to make sure levels are down and/or safe. I am a little oldschool and I dont trust any type of ammo-chip/ammonia removing product. I would rather safely lower the the level via water changes. to each his own.

Sean
 
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