Perils of Amonia Remover

[Tanyoberu]

I keep brackish tanks and ammonia removers state they are for fresh water aquariums. So I am guessing there are perils with using this stuff in Salt Water aquariums. What are the possible problems? AND at what point or rather what salinity would be the threshold for the dangers to appear?

I imagine some salt in a tank would not be a problem where-as 1/2 strength sea water probably would. Or would it?

 

[CHOMPERS]

The manufacturer knows something that I don't. So a deductive guess would be one of the two of the following:

1. Either the ammonia remover also absorbs salt.

or

2. The ammonia remover will not absorb ammonia in the presense of salt.

 

[CHOMPERS]

A large dose of 'DUHHH!!!' just hit me. With an 80 gallon tank, you should have either a sump filter, a wet/dry filter, or both. With either, properly cycled, you should not need ammonia absorber.

 

[RadleyMiller]

AmQuel works in fresh and salt. You cannot used Zeolite (white diamond) because it attracts cations, such as ammonia. Since NaCl (salt) is soluble and the main component in a salt or brackish water tank, there is Na+ (cation) and Cl- (anions) dissolved in the tank, along with HCO3- (carbonate anion) and Ca+2 (cations) along with lots of other things. NO3-, N02-, and so on and so on. What Zeolite does is it attracts cations such as NH3+ in the water. Fresh water has many less dissolved ionic compounds in the water so the Zeolite pulls out mainly ammonia. In a salt tank, the salt is measured in PPT (parts per thousand) where as ammonia is measured ing PPM (parts per million) so for every 1 ammonia particle zeolite would pull out of your tank, it would also remove several thousand Na+ ions.


No I am confused because Na+ is an alkali metal and is always soluable in aqueous solutions so how could it mess with Zeolite? Ok, this is just frustrating, but Zeolite isn't worth its weight in fish poo so it doesn't really matter. Use AmQuel or bump up your filtration and water changes. Sorry for all of the detailed chem stuff, but now I am so confused!

Radley

 

[Lil_Stinker]

A large dose of 'DUHHH!!!' just hit me. With an 80 gallon tank, you should have either a sump filter, a wet/dry filter, or both. With either, properly cycled, you should not need ammonia absorber.

Yup, your filter is your ammonia remover

 

[johno27]

good old fashioned water change will also do the trick

 

[CHOMPERS]

... Sorry for all of the detailed chem stuff, but now I am so confused!

Radley

Actually that made it clear as a bell. Salt (Sodium Chloride) is an ionic compound and the sodium and chlorine remains ions in solution. Na+ is a very strong ion at that. Think of its location on the Periodic Chart. It is in the upper left corner. NH3 and NH4 are weaker because they are actually polar molecules. The fact that salt is measured in ppt and ammonia in ppm is very significant too. That means the sodium is absorbed exponentially faster than the ammonia. When the sponge is full, it is full. The freaky thing is what happens to that left over Cl- . It will readily bond to either NH3 or Nh4 to form monochloromines and polychloromines...not a good thing for a fish tank.

 

[RadleyMiller]

Actually that made it clear as a bell. Salt (Sodium Chloride) is an ionic compound and the sodium and chlorine remains ions in solution. Na+ is a very strong ion at that. Think of its location on the Periodic Chart. It is in the upper left corner. NH3 and NH4 are weaker because they are actually polar molecules. The fact that salt is measured in ppt and ammonia in ppm is very significant too. That means the sodium is absorbed exponentially faster than the ammonia. When the sponge is full, it is full. The freaky thing is what happens to that left over Cl- . It will readily bond to either NH3 or Nh4 to form monochloromines and polychloromines...not a good thing for a fish tank.

Thanks Chompers,

I was afraid that what I was saying wasn't going to make sense. The reason that I was confused is because Sodium is an Alkaline Metal, it is always soluble in solution, so I cannot figure out how it would pull out the sodium in the water. What we both said make sense, but anyone with any chemistry knowledge would know that Na+ is always soluable!

Radley

 

[Tanyoberu]

I think I understand that chem stuff. I probably should have paid more attention in class. But basically, I'm at risk of causing a harmful chemical reaction to my fish.

I don't have amonia problems in this tank at all. I was asking because many moons ago, I purchased this ammo-carb stuff by the case. (I was new to the hobby and thought it was wise then.)

So now that I'm working with Salt, I wanted to know if this stuff was still usable at lower saline levels. I still have fresh water tanks where I use the stuff, but just wanted to know if I could get more use out of it in my brackish tank.

The filtration I use on the 80 is a canister named "750 Via Aqua professional", and an AquaClear powerhead with a sponge intake for the biological/mechanical purposes. Today I'm adding a Fluval 405. And of course, I took out the Ammo-Carb, because I was considering using it in the filter basket.

The End.