Is This Really Possible?

[bboorreedd11]

when i was at my local fish store today to see if i needed something, i found 2 amazing products to be used in an event of an emergency when ammonia lvls spike high only and i wanted to know if such wonderful products like these really exists and if they do, do they work.


1st product: Ammo-lock : does not remove ammonia from the aquarium but instead converts toxic ammonia into non-toxic ammonia so that the bacteria would have more time to breakdown the ammonia without harming the fishes...


2nd product: Ammo-chips : when dropped into the aquarium, it slowly dissolves into the water, removing ammonia from the tank.


Does thiss 2 wonderful products really work? cause if they do, im gonna buy it for an emergency...

 

[minxfishy]

Hi, everything Ive read on ammo-lock will give a false ammonia reading, think it may work to an extent but wouldnt be as good as water changes in the event of an ammonia spike. Someone on the forum was having serious problems with ammo-lock in a thread a couple of days ago, have a search and see if you can find it.

Dont know about the chips, but again, if you are having ammonia problems, the best way to resolve them is with water changes.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

not come across the chips but ammo-lock does work although it has been linked with problems sometimes.

what ammo lock does is converts ammonia to ammonium, ammonium is less toxic than ammonia and can still be used by the filter bacteria. So in theory it's better for the fish and doesn't stop the filter from going through the cycling process to catch back up.

However ammonium is still toxic and dangerous, not as dangerous as ammonia but prolongued exposure can still give you issues, so it's important to not rely on these products. Think of it like, ammonia is like being shot, fair chance you're gonna die from it straight away, if left untreated you'll die from it within a couple of days most likley. Ammonium is like being stabbed in the leg, ok probably won't kill you straight off, you'd probably last longer than if you'd been shot, but still if after a few weeks you've done nothing about it you're really going to be in a bad way!!

As minxfishy mentioned above you can have problems with it, generally if people use ammo-lock by itself it's ok, but we've seen cases where someone's had a cycling tank so they've used a bacteria product an ammonia product a nitrate product etc etc, all sorts of chemical filtration media basically. And the combined effect of them is that the tank never cycles, it's just in this sort of limbo where everythings being held off by the chemicals, but the day one of them goes inert or you run out of it the whole system can crash and you'll have massive problems.

There is really no substitue for fishless cycling and proper maintenance. But by all means keep some ammo-lock in the cupboard in case you ever have a problem.

 

[rdd1952]

The biggest problem with ammo-chips is that they remove the ammonia mechanically. That means that there is no ammonia for the bacteria to feed on so the tank will uncycle (or not ever cycle to begin with).

Ammo-lock works by changing the ammonia present when it is added into ammonium, the non-toxic form. If you are getting a reading of 1.0 ppm before adding it, you will still get the same reading afterwards because our test kits measure Total Ammonia which is ammonia + ammonium. According to API, the manufacturers of Ammo-Lock, it will lock up to 3 ppm of ammonia per dose so if you happen to have a sever ammonia problem and a reading of say 5 ppm, you would need to double dose as a single dose would not lock all of it. Of cousrse that's assuming all of the 5 ppm is ammonia and not ammonium which is most likely not the case but you have to play it safe.

Ammo-lock also works on what is present at the time only. Any ammonia produced by the fish after it has been added will not be affected and remain toxic.

Having said all that, there's nothing like good old water changes to deal with problems. Water quality issues can always be dealt with via water changes and without the use of chemicals.