I'll tell you a story about zeolite.
My manager keeps a 60 litre aquarium for his kids. It's not suitable for some of the fish he keeps, but that's another issue. He's the kind of person who will ask for advice on things, but just wants people to agree with him, and if you don't tell him what he expects to hear he will just go forward with what he wants to do regardless.
He knows I keep fish, and tells me he got advice from a fish store to put some product in his aquarium and it will help keep his water clean and mean he doesnt need to change water as often. He shows me a screenshot of the product on his phone, it doesnt really say what it is, but it looks like zeolite. So I say "that looks like zeolite" and explain what I think will happen.
"Zeolite will absorb ammonia, yes it will clean up water quality. When you change your water your nitrate levels will fall, the zeolite will absorb the ammonia and prevent the nitrogen cycle from functioning and keep nitrate from rising. It will be chemically doing the work of the nitrogen cycle and will appear that everything is fine. Behind the scenes those microbes responsible for your cycle will be dying off because they being starved of food. In a month or 2 the zeolite will fill up and stop working. Because all those ammonia consuming microbes are now dead, your ammonia will start to build up and if you don't catch it with testing it can get to toxic levels quite quickly".
It took about a month before his fish started dying. He asked me again what was happening, and I reminded him I told him what would happen, and he should get his water tested. High ammonia.
He has now stopped using zeolite and let's the natural processes properly establish in his aquarium.
Zeolite has uses, if you are having ammonia issues that you can't keep on top of with water changes it's a temporary solution. And there are ways to use it and ways not to.
This feeds into aquarium product manufacturers trying to cream you for aftersales. A lot of filtration systems, particularly for smaller aquarium utilise cartridges. They tell you need to change these cartridges every month or so. Aftersales. You will often find these cartridges contain zeolite. As said this will prevent your cycle from establishing. As long as you change the cartridge before the zeolite gets used up all is good. But the filter manufacturer wants you tied into their products, and you don't need to be. Throw away the cartridges, the filter is just a box that can hold anything. Fill the filter with proper biomedia and sponge. Let your aquarium cycle. Biomedia and sponge will last years without needing changing, possibly decades. With a bit of knowledge and little up front work you don't need to keep giving these companies money and your aquarium will be healthier for the effort also.
I can accept there might be some convenience factor involved in taking short cuts. It's not really a big deal to change a filter cartridge periodically or add some detritus consuming additive with your water change, or whatever. But its not the best way to do things, and costs money you don't really need to be spending.
It isn't just Seachem. It's pretty much all aquarium product manufacturers. API put an aloe vera additive into one of their water conditioners, charge a premium for it as it "promotes slime coat" and is "good for a fishes health". But aloe vera is a terrible thing to add into the water with anything that has gills as it coats them and makes them function less efficiently. Biorb aquariums have terrible filtration that has a simple, cheap fix, but they won't fix it because it would mean they don't sell so many servive packs (ive seen them put that it writing). As aluded to above, almost every filter manufacturer will make an exaggerated claim on the performance of their filter, and then put in the small print that it won't actually perform as well as they claim. Shout out to Eheim as the exception here.
Wowwee… Your zeolite story is very enlightening, &, imho, the, in effect, exploitation—particularly of new-to-the-avocation individuals’ ignorance—on the part of certain manufacturers, IS ‘nefarious’.
On the basis of what i’ve learned from your recent replies, i have to do some serious rejigging of my modest setup
Thankfully, things are copacetic, but i’m also somewhat fanatic in my attentions—i check levels 2ce/day—if i’m slacking off, 1ce/day!
The basis for this is the difficulties/obstacles i’ve had nearly from the get-go. I was inadequately prepared/educated by the LFS staff from whom i acquired my aquatic creatures, so have been amending mistakes w/new products/more intensive education day after day (after day!!!).
No ill will directed toward the LFS staff—they’ve been extremely supportive in their capacity, & of course they’ve got a commercial commitment. Perhaps because most folks r clueless about the complexity of aquatics, & also want ‘instant gratification’, 1) staff isn’t trained/expected to adequately educate new ‘fish guardians’ (particularly in an establishment where aquatics isn’t the sole focus); 2) said guardians mostly aren’t proactive enough w/research/self-education, & 3) a lot of folk acquire aquatics to entertain their youngsters, perhaps w/the “it’s only a fish” perspective that can be ‘flushed’ & replaced cheaply, allowing for another ‘doom scenario’
My current ‘aquahabitants’ seem to be especially hardy, & have therefore survived several snafus that have thrown me into panic mode.
Initially i had no success in controlling the ammonia factor, THEN, someone referenced ZEOLITE, which appeared to be the panacea i was urgently seeking. So, for a few months now i’ve had 3 tiny pouches alongside the cartridges in the filter: 1) 2 tbsps zeolite, 2) 2 tbsbs zeolite/carbon 3) 1/2-1 tsp of Seachem Purigen (the latter introduced to stem an algal bloom).
I last changed the pouch contents on Feb 4th; currently i do h2o changes every 4-7 days. The readings r holding pretty steady at 7-7.6pH, ammonia/nitrite ‘0’, temp 77F—the latest concern has been nitrate. It had climbed from 5ppm to betw. 10-20ppm; did h20 change on Feb 21st—nitrate back to 5ppm.
Per your latest input, i looked up ‘Eheim’ filters—had never heard of the company. I queried for an Eheim filter suitable for a 5gal tank—doesn’t seem to be available (or advised) for anything smaller than 20gal
It would be very problematic for me to cycle a larger tank at this time (human habitat-wise), which is not to say it’s impossible, but would require major space modification, so for the time being i’d like to maximally improve my 5gal.
I would like to try your suggestion of using a sponge (already have that component) & filtering material that doesn’t contain zeolite or other elements that might sabotage the biological health of the tank.
I’m attaching a pic of the setup; mentioned way back when, it’s housing a plakat betta, a hillstream loach, & 2 mystery snails. It also contains some healthy live plants (anubias & some ferns).
Can u recommend a brand of filtering material that i might replace the cartridges with? I will remove the pouch of zeolite, but feel uneasy about removing the zeolite/carbon pouch (because, i consider the stuff the salvation of the 5gal—also, ‘baby steps’).
THANK YOU
, so how worried should i be? Should i reinstall a pouch of purigen, or do u consider that somewhat useless? Will retest later to see if miraculously the level has budged downward.
