Anyone have any experience with those Ammo Chips sold by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. They are rechargeable in salt solution. But how do you know when to recharge them? It would be nice if they changed color, but they don't. Obviously it depends on the fish load and decaying food bits etc. But for a lightly loaded tank or a fry tank.....recharge what...once a month?
Ammo Chips
- Thread starter Silurian
- Start date
There should be really no need for them in your tank. In a tank that has an established bacterial colony which breaks ammonia down into nitrites and the nitrite into nitrate, there should be no ammonia or nitrite detectable.
In fry tanks there should be some kind of filter, usually a sponge, and that should have all the essential bacteria, (where the fry tank is kept cycled with fish or pure ammonia, or the sponge is kept in another tank's filter while the fry tank is not in use).
In any case, using the ammo chips in an uncycled tank will take valuable food away from the bacteria, making the cycling process even longer. In cycled tank, the ammo chips are useless because the ammonia is being all used up by the bacteria.
If you have fish in a tank with ammonia or nitrite readings, it's better to do a 30% water change every day than to add chemicals or similiar to the tank.
In fry tanks there should be some kind of filter, usually a sponge, and that should have all the essential bacteria, (where the fry tank is kept cycled with fish or pure ammonia, or the sponge is kept in another tank's filter while the fry tank is not in use).
In any case, using the ammo chips in an uncycled tank will take valuable food away from the bacteria, making the cycling process even longer. In cycled tank, the ammo chips are useless because the ammonia is being all used up by the bacteria.
If you have fish in a tank with ammonia or nitrite readings, it's better to do a 30% water change every day than to add chemicals or similiar to the tank.
Agreed. Ammo-chips are not necessary under normal circumstances. I would highly recommend not using them for most set-ups. However, I will use ammo-chips in a hospital tank where some medications have been known to disrupt/destroy the biological filtration. As a result, ammo-chips will help keep ammonia down in that particular set-up.
I suppose recharging the ammo-chips depends on a number of factors. How heavy your bio-load is, how much chips you use, and the quality of the ammo-chips. A heavier bio-load will saturate the chips with ammonia faster. Using smaller quantities will also result in saturated chips faster.
I suppose recharging the ammo-chips depends on a number of factors. How heavy your bio-load is, how much chips you use, and the quality of the ammo-chips. A heavier bio-load will saturate the chips with ammonia faster. Using smaller quantities will also result in saturated chips faster.