is there an organic way to remove ammonia from my aquarium?

Question

also what brand name of chemical will do this?

Answer 1

After your tank has been set up for a while, bacteria will naturally colonize surfaces in the tank. These bacteria can change ammonia to nitrite, and then change nitrite to nitrate, which is fairly non-toxic. Bio wheels have a lot of surface area, so a lot of bacteria can colonize them. So do under-gravel filters, sponges, and most anything else that is rough to the touch. In problem tanks, I've sometimes been able to get the ammonia to stay lower if I intentionally scratch up smooth components in the filter with sandpaper, etc. This technique is not recommended for everyone though, because it will make your equippment harder to clean, and might damage equippment. Normally, you then remove the nitrate by doing regular water changes.

Over the years, numerous additional methods of reducing ammonia have been devised. Most of them just don't get enough out to really be worth the effort, and even if they did, they would likely fail, because fish food contains other stuff in it (like ground fish bones) which will gunk up the gravel, or mess up the chemical balance of the water eventually, so while these other ideas can lighten your load of chores, you will still have to do some water changes.

Many types of plants, especially floating plants will take ammonia, nitrate, or nitrite up naturally, and incorporate it into their structures as they grow. in theory, if you had enough plants growing fast enough, you could remove the ammonia by just trimming back the plants. Of course, that won't keep the gravel clean.

Activated charcoal will adsorb ammonia, along with lots of other stuff from the water, and then if you just replace the charcoal, you'll be fine, right? Well, yeah, except the carbon adsorbs any chemical, in fact, it sucks up most medications way better than it takes up ammonia. Also, activated charcoal only really works if it's been kept in airtight containers until it's ready to use, other wise, it's been adsorbing stuff in the air... and after it adsorbs everything it can, it is just regular charcoal, and it starts breaking down into pieces of ammonia-laden soot, which will make the problem worse, not better.

Zeolite supposedly takes only ammonia, and then you soak it in salt water to get rid of the ammonia, and then you put it back in the aquarium... It sounds too good to be true, and it usually comes with such a big price tag that it'd better be true... but I haven't seen proof that it works.

There are chemicals you can add that will temporarily surpress the dangerous effects of excessive ammonia, such as amquel. The company claims that you can just keep adding their product to the tank, and it'll be fine... but I have found that to be a definite lie. I've also found that after about three months, an open bottle seems to do far more harm than good.

Salt water tanks have "nitrogen bubblers" and supposedly, after the ammonia has converted to nitrite, and then to nitrate, a nitrogen bubbler allows anaerobic bacteria to convert the nitrate into nitrogen gas, which bubbles out of the tank. I have my doubts about that theory, but I've never really gotten into salt water.

Answer 2

If you have a properly cycled tank, beneficial bacteria will convert the ammonia into nitrates, which are harmless in small doses. To cycle your tank, you just need to have gravel or something else the bacteria can cling to.

If your tank is not already set up, then you just need to set everything up and add fish food every day for a few weeks. Eventually, you will get a bacteria bloom in the water, which is normal and good. Once the bacteria are firmly established, the bloom will disappear, the water will be clear and your tank will be ready for fish. If you have test kits, the ammonia levels will read zero, the nitrites will be zero and the nitrates will be fairly low.

If you already have fish, and the tank has been established for a while then you should already have the bacteria in your tank. To ensure that you don't kill them, you should do partial water changes (not complete water changes where you scrub the rocks clean) every week. You can also take algae out and use magnetic scrubbers on the side, but that's really all the typical maintenance you need to do.

If you really want a chemical to add to your tank, I've heard prime is a good tank cycling addition, but personally, I think it's better to NOT add chemicals when you don't need to as they can adversely effect the fish if not dosed properly. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Okay, first chemicals are not an organic approach. But, yes, there is a way to remove ammonia from the aquarium organically. It's called cycling. It's where, through a process of water changes and bacteria accumulation, you convert the ammonia into nitrites into nitrates. Proper cycling, water changes and tank cleaning and maintenance is the most organic approach to removing ammonia there is.

Answer 4

There are two very good ways that should be used together. One is what is called a bio-wheel. This is an inexpensive add on to your back of the tank filter that uses beneficial bacteria to clean out ammonia and excess nitrates. Also, change out roughly 30% of the tank's water about once a week (great when reused to water plants). For more complete advice, try aquariumfish.net. It's a fish selling site, but they offer loads of free advice without needing to sign up for anything.

And keep away from chemicals. That's bad ju-ju for aquariums.

Answer 5

Water changes. 20% every 3 days while your tank is cycling (hopefully you only have one or two hardy fish in there right now). Keep testing your water, and when your tank is cycled you should have readings of ammonia-0, nitrite-0, and nitrate-20 or less. You can add more fish slowly at this time. After the tank is cycled, you will still need to do 50% water changes each week to keep the nitrate levels down. You shouldn't add any chemicals to your tank, except a water dechlorinator.

Answer 6

You can use bacteria supplements such as stresszyme or cycle, or you can add calcionate zeolite (I think that's what it's called) to your filter or directly to the gravel (if you put it in the filter make sure you put it in a filter media bag). I use both in my tank and I've finall got the ammonia, nitrates and nitrites down to 0. I don't know if they are 100% "organic" but it's as close as it comes as far as I know.

As a side note - Cycle is not a chemical, all it is is bacteria that would otherwise naturally thrive in your tank to get a proper nitrogen cycle set up (hence the name Cycle). It says right on the bottle that it is impossible to overdose - when I first set up my tank I dumped an entire bottle (the small ones, I think 1 oz) into my 10-gallon tank, and it cycled within a week or so.

Answer 7

The best way is the organic way. Allow your tank to build it's nitrogen cycle. Bacteria in the tank will break down the ammonia into nitrites and other bacteria will break that into nitrates. This will continue as long as you have your tank as long as nothing kills off the bacteria (like treating the tank with antibiotics). Forget using chemicals to try to do this, that's asking for trouble.

MM

Answer 8

Yup. Water changes and bio-wheels. And less fish.

Answer 9

a water change....