xfactor6699
Aquarium Advice Addict
How do people feel about ammo lock chemical
Ammonia
- Thread starter xfactor6699
- Start date
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eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
xfactor6699 said:
Nothing a bucket and a bottle of Prime can't solve better.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now-116287.html
Mr. Limpet
Aquarium Advice Addict
It's my understanding Ammo Lock does the same thing as Prime, it binds it into a non-toxic form. So it won't help your situation IMO.
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xfactor6699
Aquarium Advice Addict
I've got a smaller filter if I add it fill it with micro beads will it keep more bb so that when I get these stupied out of nowhere ammonia spikes it can control it better
WendiDell
Aquarium Advice Addict
Nothing beats the PWC. But if you find that your ammonia is up and you can't do a PWC for a few hours, then go ahead and use an ammo lock. But make sure you still do the PWC within the next 24 hrs.
Ammo lock isn't meant to be used in place of PWC. It's a temporary fix until you can do your regular PWC.
I can't stress it enough that the only way to keep your fish healthy is to do regularly scheduled PWC. 20% twice a week is easy to do, even with 4 tanks and a very bad back. I know this from first hand experience. Plus doing 20% a PWC doesn't even phase the fish, there is little to no stress involved when you do the regular 20% PWC.
Also remember with Ammo lock you will still read positive for ammonia, so you won't get an accurate reading until after you've done the PWC. So based on your last reading + 10% is how much of a PWC you should do.
Say your ammonia was .25ppm and you added the Ammo lock and went to work, 9 hours later you get home and do the PWC. The reading of .25ppm means you need a 25% PWC but since you added the Ammo lock, a safe bet is to do a 35-40% PWC. If your ammonia was .5ppm then you'll need to do a 60% PWC.
And don't make a habit out of using Ammo lock in place of the PWC, it won't work out very well for your fish.
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
xfactor6699 said:
Have you figured out what is causing the ammonia spikes? You shouldn't ever need to use any type of chemical or product to deal with ammonia (should always be 0) if the tank is established. Do you change filter media often? Possibly overfeed? Redecorate the tanks a lot?
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xfactor6699
Aquarium Advice Addict
eco23 said:
I didn't change any media or over feed but I did go from gravel to sand... Saturday I took 60% of my water out put it in a bucket took out more water (down to the top of the gravel so about in 1''1/2) took out all gravel but like a 1/4 washed my sand then added my sand (kept alittle gravel at the very bottom for bb) then put old water back in then filed rest with new water
Mr. Limpet
Aquarium Advice Addict
You're going thru a mini cycle. How much filtration do you have on it right now?
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xfactor6699
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have a 70g on a 55g with an air stone..... If I was going through a mini wouldn't the water be cloudy cause mine in crystal clear
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
xfactor6699 said:
A mini-cycle doesn't always cause a bacterial bloom. How high is the ammo spiking? Have you been doing daily pwc's?
Mr. Limpet
Aquarium Advice Addict
Possibly, but the multiple PWC may be keeping the bloom at bay. All the BB that was in the gravel is now gone. Your filter (decco, plants, etc) is building up BB to make up for what was lost by removing the gravel and that's why you're getting an ammo spike IMO. Is the no2 jumping at all?
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xfactor6699
Aquarium Advice Addict
My nitrates are 5ppm to 10ppm..how long will this take u think
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
xfactor6699 said:
How high and how quickly is the ammonia spiking? As Mr. Limpet asked...are you seeing any nitrItes? Are you using API to test?
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xfactor6699
Aquarium Advice Addict
My levels are
Ammonia.50
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5ppm-10ppm
That's as high as it gets for my ammonia.... Would these levels mess up with my plants and with me trying to grow algae
Ammonia.50
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 5ppm-10ppm
That's as high as it gets for my ammonia.... Would these levels mess up with my plants and with me trying to grow algae
eco23
Aquarium Advice Addict
xfactor6699 said:
You've got to keep the ammonia under .25 at all time to prevent illness to your fish. A 50% pwc will reduce it by half...so that would be the minimum you need to do ASAP. Try to pick up a bottle of Seachem Prime because it not only dechlorinates to water, but also renders the ammonia non toxic for 24-36 hours. The fact that it's not climbing too high should mean the mini-cycle won't last too long...but you've got to keep on top of the daily pwc's to keep your fish from suffering. Use the guide I linked in my first post to get you through it.
Plants will actually help by absorbing some of the ammonia...and I'm not sure how it will affect algae growth if at all. Why are you trying to grow algae?
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xfactor6699
Aquarium Advice Addict
eco23 said:
Yeah I do pwc everyday but they keep going up its aggravating lol... so the algae thing when I went on vaca. My timer broke so my lights stayed on for 2 weeks I know right anyways when I got home there was so much algae so I bought 2 flying foxes and a farlowella cat well they cleaned the crap out of the algae now u have no algae and I've tried algae wafers and veggies and they won't eat any of it... I got a profile on farlowella cats and they usually starve to death when there is a lack of algae so I'm trying to grow algae for him cause I dont want him to die... I know most try to get it out of the tank while I'm getting it to grow in mine with no success lol
WendiDell
Aquarium Advice Addict
Good news bad news. If you want algae to grow leave your lights on longer it will help it grow.
Good news is your nitrAtes are good, bad news is your ammonia will kill your plants and your fish.
The bacteria for nitrAtes grows on the Deco and in the gravel and in the filter so you won't kill it off with PWC.
Until you find the reason for the ammonia spikes you may need to do PWC twice a day to keep it below .25ppm. Zero is preferable but below .25ppm is OK while cycling or what ever your tanks issue is right now.
With your ammonia at .5ppm you need a minimum 50% PWC, now.
Then test every 12 hours. When it hits .25ppm do a 25% PWC.
One question, why ever would you want to grow Algae???
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xfactor6699
Aquarium Advice Addict
WendiDell said:
I leave my light on for 13 hours right now and nothing no algae... I answered the why I'm growing it for food for my farlowella cat... And I'm doing lots of water changes I'm going it is a mini cycle from changing my substrate.... Fyi I have not changed any deco or media just substrate so I should have bb in the tank maybe not enough because of the gravel ..... Hope that changes soon
WendiDell
Aquarium Advice Addict
A mini cycle makes sense with the substrate change
I'm out of ideas for growing algae, it is a very rare problem to say the least. everyone else wants to get rid of theirs.
Hmmm, speaking of theirs, do you know anyone with algae that you can add to your tank? I don't know if it will work but it can't hurt to try.
I changed my gravel to crushed shells/coral to increase my pH naturally, for my Mbunas. I left a little gravel in about 1/4 of it then added the new stuff. I was about 4 months ago and if I remember correctly, it took a week to 10 days for my tank to balance out again.
How long ago did you switch out your substrate? And did you leave a little or did you remove all of the old stuff?
If you removed all of it, the mini cycle may take a little longer. But I can't imagine it would be to much longer
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xfactor6699
Aquarium Advice Addict
I left like 1/4 of the gravel and I did it saturday
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