Ammonia - Ammo Lock

[N4T4SH45]

I have just bought some "Ammo Lock" from the lfs. I have read the instructions but is it safe to put into water with fish in the tank??

 

[UBigBobby]

I have just bought some "Ammo Lock" from the lfs. I have read the instructions but is it safe to put into water with fish in the tank??

[snapback]884197[/snapback]​

Personally I wouldn't, because it will make you dependant on chemicals to keep ammonia down. As soon as that stuff wears off, the ammonia will come back. You best bet is to let the bacteria catch up to whatever caused the ammo spike and take care of it that way.

But alas, yes its ok to add to the tank directly.

 

[mandi]

I agree with UBigBobby --

Ammolock doesn't REMOVE the ammonia, it just "locks" it in and "detoxifies" it.

Are you in the process of cycling your tank (with or without fish?) or has your tank been up and running (with fish) for a while?

If your tank has been up and running for a while and has fish in it, do a descent sized water change and keep an eye on the levels. Do partial water changes till you get things under control.

If you're cycling without fish, you definately WANT to see an ammonia spike -- it's part of the cycling process, so let it go and keep monitoring your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels.

If you're cycling WITH fish, do a water change so that the ammonia doesn't get TOO out of hand and harm the fish any more than it has to, and keep monitoring your levels.

 

[rdd1952]

Agree with everything already said. Best way to handle high ammonia with fish is daily (or even 2 a day) water changes. Chemicals will become VERY expensive since you will have to use them from now.

 

[stivhixon]

I just went through tghe same thing, buy stress zyme, it adds bacteria to your tank, do 15% water changes every other day and but a vacuum that cleans the gravel without emptying water. do this before doing your water changes, I gought one for 15 dollars. After you put the stress zyme in your tank may get real cloudy, that is good it is a bcterial bloom, and is helping your tank. I bought ammo lock and all it did was screen the test results. My advice, as I recently overstocked a tank, and battled ammonia, while trying to make the fish survive, and did it succesfully, IS to buy something simialar to sress zyme, buy a vacuum and a gravelvac to empty your water easily. Vacuum(15 dollars) vacuuum the gravel or stones or whatever, get all the debris out, then empty 15% with gravelvac tube (15 bucks) and add stresszyme to dechloriante the water. It may cost 50 bucks but it will ease you . I recently just kept an overstocked 30 gallon tank alive buy ding the forementioned, as well as LOTS of advice from the nice people on this site! So try that and let me know, also ckeck out the beginners advice, it helps you understand the basics, if your like me... I just thougth you fill the tank, put fish in and feed

 

[Tolak]

The only time I would use ammolock is when trying to clean up a poorly maintained tank. Filty gravel can kick out a lot of old half decayed food when cleaning, causing a temporary ammo & nitrite spike.

Tolak

 

[rdd1952]

I just went through tghe same thing, buy stress zyme, it adds bacteria to your tank,

[snapback]886146[/snapback]​

You may have had some luck with Stress Zyme but the general concensus is that it is useless. Any product that has not been refrigerated will have no living bacteria in it/

and add stresszyme to dechloriante the water.

[snapback]886146[/snapback]​

Sorry, but Stress Zyme is NOT a dechlorinator. Stress Coat is. If you are using Stress Zyme for dechlorination, you will soon have dead fish. They are both made by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals and this is from their website concerning Stress Zyme:

"Improves the development of the biological filter and helps clean a dirty aquarium. Contains over 300 million live bacteria per teaspoonful. Breaks down organic compounds that cause dangerous conditions such as ammonia and nitrite poisoning and low oxygen levels. Continuous use assures an active biological filter, cleaner aquarium, healthier fish and good water quality. No refrigeration necessary. Use when setting up and maintaining an aquarium. For use in fresh and saltwater."

I have tried it and found it totally useless in aiding cycling. I started a pair of 2.5 gallon tanks cycling (fishlessly) at the same time, one iwht Stress Zyme, one without. The one without actually cycled faster.

 

[stivhixon]

sorry I did mean to use stresss coat there, I was talking about stress zyme to much before, thanks for catching that-that would have been awful.