Carbon & Ammo chips

JinxXx0085

JinxXx0085

AC Members
Jun 12, 2005
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Montana
Hi all :hi: , I've been trying to look up online what the best way to use Carbon and ammo in the tank. Haven't had much luck. What I wanted to know... is it necessary to use those 2 all of the time or just when you need it? :huh:
From what I've read :read: , Carbon removes medication, odor, color.
Ammo chips removes ammonia and would relase ammonia if salt is present.
Is that all to those 2 medias?
Thanks. :joe:
 
There’s a lot more to both. Carbon is super heated until it popes like pop corn. It then has million of small holes for the matter to stick too. The only problem is that it is only active for 2 weeks or so. This means that after these 2 weeks it is useless and needs to be replaced. Me and many other people here only use it when needed. Its expensive to replace every week or two, and besides. its kind of pointless.

Ammo chips should only be used in an emergency. I don’t remember exactly how they work, but I do believe that they take the ammonia away from the bacteria. With out food (ammonia) the bacteria can die, and you may have to re cycle. The chance of this is low, but still possible. I would not use this at all. Ammonia should be removed by bacteria and water changes only.
 
Kas, thanks for your response. I have been having high ammonia level for so long. I guess I should try to remove the ammo chips and see what happens to the ammonia level. Of course, I've been doing water changes.
 
Standard best practice for any and all tank problems: Treat the problem, not the symptom. The question should be "Why are you having ammonia problems?" That is the issue. Treating the symptom - high ammonia readings - does nothing for the underlying issue, it is a bandaid.

If you fix the problem, the symptoms disappear.
 
Here's another carbon related question - hopefully you guys can help... my tank set up (a ready made Juwel kit) came with all the filter material. Including a black 'carbon' sponge (not sure how the sponge is carbon - but I'll shrug and ignore that)... Should I take this out given I have planted tanks? I've heard it will remove the fertiliser as well as anything I don't want..
R
 
I don't think that your carbon sponge is likely to cause any negative effects, but it's also not going to provide you with anything positive at the moment, so I'd remove it. Just use carbon for when you're going on vacation, removing meds, or treating an illness sans medication.

As to the original post, follow RTR's advice and figure out why your tank has high ammonia levels. Otherwise you'll just end up spending tons of money on new ammo chips. You might as well solve the problem and spend the money on more gear, right?
 
RTR said:
Standard best practice for any and all tank problems: Treat the problem, not the symptom. The question should be "Why are you having ammonia problems?" That is the issue. Treating the symptom - high ammonia readings - does nothing for the underlying issue, it is a bandaid.

If you fix the problem, the symptoms disappear.
Click to expand...
I agree with you 100% I had no luck with finding the problem, I know I am not over stocked, only 1 guppy, 1 betta, 2 cory catfish at the moment in my 10g. Recently I decided I would take off the stuff that came with my plant to see if it was the cause. Theres nothing else I can see or find that could have been causing high ammonia. Will do another water change today and take readings afterwards.
I feel like this tank is bad luck because I moved the fishes from one 10g tank to another 10 g since the old one needed to be resealed. And that 10 g has been recently resealed and cured. The moment I put the fishes in new tank, a lot of them died. Temp difference? Not enough time for the sealant to cure? I don't know why... all I know that I probably didnt take my time with the new tank? From there I had high ammonia and bacteria bloom. I realized that I had cleaned all media along with new gravel and lost alot of good bacteria. That's the story of my "new" 10g.

::EDIT::
Nitrate is 20
Nitrite is1.0
Ammonia was 4 yesterday came down from 8, will do water change and check the ammonia a couple of hours after and then i'll post ammonia readings.
 
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Vacuum your substrate thoroughly while changing the water. Also, rinse out filter media in old tank water. This should help.

The wool from the plants is possibly contributing.

Sounds like the tank's re-cycling. Daily water changes are a must. Keep vacuuming the gravel.
 
I agree with Happy. Sounds liek a recycling tank. When you re-set up did you move everything over, such as filter and gravel or did you just move the fish over to a new setup? A nitrite reading of 1.0 ppm is very harmful to fish. Start doing 50% water changes using a water conditioner if you have chlorine or chloramines present. Then retest. If the nitrite has not been reduced to less than 0.25 ppm then do another 50% water change.

The wool sounds like a culprite as was pointed out.

Also do you have chlorine or chloramine in your water supply and what conditioner are you using?
 
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