Ammonia bag

[Boomer23]

I use ammonia bags in all my aquariums. And it never occured to me to change them, do i even need to? I give them the usual quick rinse or whatever. But some ive had in my aqauriums for a couple years now. Any help would be great thanks.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Boom...

If you remove and replace a lot of tank water and do so regularly, you don't need to change the biological filtration. The large, frequent water changes will remove most of the toxins in the tank water. The rest will be diluted in all the pure replacement water and not harm your fish. I leave my bio bag in the tank and just rinse it regularly in some of the old tank water. Much of the beneficial bacteria lives there.

B

 

[Boomer23]

I appreciate the advice, but im not talking about the bio-bag, im talkin about the ammonia bags, the white stones. It removes ammonia toxins nd only that.

 

[Zimmanski]

I use ammonia bags in all my aquariums. And it never occured to me to change them, do i even need to? I give them the usual quick rinse or whatever. But some ive had in my aqauriums for a couple years now. Any help would be great thanks.

IMO you really shouldn't be using an ammonia remover at all. By removing ammonia by chemical means you're effective weakening your colony of ammonia consuming beneficial bacteria. I would suggest removing it and closely monitoring your water parameters for a couple weeks to make sure nothing gets outa whack

 

[Boomer23]

Ive been using these bags for many years nd helps keep my water levels correct, learned that trick from my dad nd since then i have fish living for years, 16inch pleco for example 3-4 years old. No problems since. So i would highly reccomend them.

 

[Zimmanski]

Ive been using these bags for many years nd helps keep my water levels correct, learned that trick from my dad nd since then i have fish living for years, 16inch pleco for example 3-4 years old. No problems since. So i would highly reccomend them.

It's your choice whether to use it or not, but here's an article that may help. It discusses when/if to use ammonia removers and how to recharge it if you decide to keep using it. Though if you have been using it for years without recharging it I can't imagine it still being effective so if its not doing anything, and your tank is still running well, then why recharge and use it?

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/filters/a/Using-Zeolite-In-Aquariums.htm

 

[BBradbury]

Hello again Boomer...

The bio-bag is the bag that removes the ammonia. These are the chips and rings and sand, the material that sits on the top of the filtration device. This is where the good bacteria lives and removes the ammonia. It should stay in the tank and just be rinsed regularly to remove the old plant and fish material that builds up in the medium.

B

 

[PerfectDepth]

Hello again Boomer...

The bio-bag is the bag that removes the ammonia. These are the chips and rings and sand, the material that sits on the top of the filtration device. This is where the good bacteria lives and removes the ammonia. It should stay in the tank and just be rinsed regularly to remove the old plant and fish material that builds up in the medium.

B

The OP is referring to ammo chips, not bio-media. (the "ammonia remover" type of chemical media such as Zeolite)

Boomer, as far as I know, ammo chips only work for a week or so before they need replaced or recharged. At this point they aren't providing any benefit. I would take them out to make more space in your filter for other types of media.