Bag Buddies? MythBusters?

[Miles]

Bag Buddies claims to neutralize chloramines, meaning it has an ammonia neutralizer in it. Some ad's claim it reduces ammonia.

I work in a Pet Store, and we receive Angelfish and other misc. fish with high ammonia levels, like 3-5ppm. The water is blue, and I am assuming they use bag buddies.

I am preparing a speech to talk about ammonia toxicity in correlation with pH values. I know the first rebuttle will be that the fish are shipped with bag buddies, thus neutralizing ammonia.. Therefor, making the 'drip' acclimation process which I suspect to be detrimental, useful and effective in their eyes.

Does anyone have any knowledge on bag buddies and their actual ability to remove ammonia? As the fish that are overcrowded, with high ammonia levels and DOAs, often have traditionally high losses. I believe it is from poor acclimation and ammonia toxicity during shipping, including secondary diseases such as hyperplasia.

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

 

[softturtle]

I know this isn't what the thread is about, but you think drip acclimation is bad? Why? Becuase of the fish have to stay in the bag with the foul water conditions longer?

 

[id10t]

Who cares what the marketing department says on the glossy brochure?

Get you some bag buddies, a *very* high quality and accurate test kit, some ammonia, and do some of that scientific process thing. Heck, know a kid in middle school? It would make a great science fair project...

 

[dodgefreak8]

just an opinion but maybe the bag buddies will only neutralize a certain amount of ammonia. Maybe the fish you recieved were packaged to long or the water they came from had ammonia in it already.

 

[AttackFish]

Who cares what the marketing department says on the glossy brochure?

Get you some bag buddies, a *very* high quality and accurate test kit, some ammonia, and do some of that scientific process thing. Heck, know a kid in middle school? It would make a great science fair project...

Me! Me! Me! I'm in middle-school (8thgrade) and Miles is in the same state as me! But Spokane is pretty far!

 

[DeLgAdO]

Bag Buddies claims to neutralize chloramines, meaning it has an ammonia neutralizer in it. Some ad's claim it reduces ammonia.

I work in a Pet Store, and we receive Angelfish and other misc. fish with high ammonia levels, like 3-5ppm. The water is blue, and I am assuming they use bag buddies.

I am preparing a speech to talk about ammonia toxicity in correlation with pH values. I know the first rebuttle will be that the fish are shipped with bag buddies, thus neutralizing ammonia.. Therefor, making the 'drip' acclimation process which I suspect to be detrimental, useful and effective in their eyes.

Does anyone have any knowledge on bag buddies and their actual ability to remove ammonia? As the fish that are overcrowded, with high ammonia levels and DOAs, often have traditionally high losses. I believe it is from poor acclimation and ammonia toxicity during shipping, including secondary diseases such as hyperplasia.

thats not the breathable bag right?

 

[Miles]

thats not the breathable bag right?

Nope. Standard shipping bags.

And Yes, my theory is that it does neutralize some Ammonia, but not all of it.


Drip acclimation is fine for short bag times and to allow slow adjustments to new pH and water parameters.. However, long bag times are a much different story.

Fact: The higher the temp and pH value, the more toxic Ammonia (NH3) is.

• When a fish is shipped, and is in a bag for 2 days, the ammonia levels build up to around 3ppm, if not higher.
• Combining multiple fish per bag, increases Co2 levels and decreases o2 levels, making the pH in the bag drop over time, depending on alkalinity.
• Combining acids from Ammonia and fish waste, also lowers the pH.
• When you open the bag, the pH makes a sudden jump upwards due to gas exchange. Thus, increasing ammonia toxicity.
• When you drip acclimate, to an even higher pH, the ammonia becomes even more lethal.

Drip acclimation, in my scenario, is killing the fish and causing a secondary gill disease called hyperplasia.

If my company is willing to listen and recognizes that all 'historic high loss' fish share the common symptoms of ammonia poisoning and hyperplasia, I am hoping they will restructure shipping methods and acclimation procedures.. In hopes that we can discontinue this 'laughable' reputation that they have built themselves.

 

[Miles]

FYI ~ The meeting went very well.

 

[Jam17]

this it true

we get bags that have samll carages of zeolite in them to suck the Ammonia