Attention Chemists - Question dealing with Ammonia in Fish Tanks?

Question

As a plausible research project I want to look into, I was wondering, what chemistry-or-bio-related projects could I do regarding fishtanks and the chemical cycle that takes place there? I know the cycle; but I was thinking of optional ways to 'clean up' fishtanks. I know that Nitrate is soluble in everything, so that's why it's a hard component to take out of fishtanks. However, Ammonia and Nitrite shoud be possible to remove from fishtanks...
I always wanted to know, why not come up with a way to remove Ammonia from fishtanks, and thus never have to bother with the weekly partial water changes? Or with Nitrite?
What are some possible solutions? Some ideas to look into? What do people do already to address this issue? Why is it not enough/why are we still (mostly) stuck with using partial water changes?

Answer 1

Tien,

Like one other answerer stated, you don't perform partial water changes to remove ammonia and nitrite. They are oxidized in the biological filtration from the bacteria that builds up. Nitrate IMO is also correct in the ppm readings, and 40 ppm is the tyical threshold to where you want to put attention on doing a change. Again on that I agree, your build up in how fast it gets there will depend alot on your stocking of fish, how much you feed, and how much waste those fish produce. Treating nitrate reduction with plants I feel though is out of the question. The amount of plants it would take to remove nitrate would be so massive, you'd hardly be able to see your fish, let alone how to figure where to put them all in a tank. Another thing that should be mentioned is even assuming you chemically treat a tank to remove any and all bad compounds, you must still perform water changes to replenish the trace minerals that other wise cannot be put back in a tank. This occurs naturally outside of tanks from underground and run off sources. A tank is a closed enviroment and requires you to do this. Yet another issue is that waste does break down into the compounds, but without actually removing it, that waste will end up becomming a haven for unwanted diseases and parasites to thrive. Removal of the waste should occur. There are numerous products out there you can chemically treat and maintain a tank with, I do not advise it though. I do not feel use of chemicals is a good thing to do when maintaining the living enviroment for fish. Some of those chemicals have legitimate uses, but should not be used to avoid the work involved to keep the proper balance of a closed eco system like a fish tank.

Answer 2

The weekly water changes aren't done just for removing ammonia and nitrite. If your tank is cycled and you are not overstocked or constantly severely overfeeding, you should not have ammonia or nitrite because it is removed and converted into non-toxic nitrate by the beneficial nitrifying bacteria.

The weekly water changes are done to prevent a nitrate build-up which can become toxic for fish. You also do it to replenish necessary minerals and trace elements that are used up by the fish, You also do it to get rid of other potentially harmful build-ups such as phospates. All this can only be done by water changes, there are no magical products. Generally speaking, a concentration of nitrate below 30-40ppt is OK for most critters, anything higher will be toxic. Nitrate should preferably be kept below 20ppt or so.

Ammonia and nitrite CAN and ARE removed from a tank by plants and, activated carbon and other types of filter media. They can also be converted into a non-toxic form by various water conditioners such as Seachem's Prime.

Answer 3

depending on the size of your tank are you over stocking it? this will cause ammonia to go higher and what type of filter do you have? the charcoal will help this to if you put ammonia chips in your filter or in a net bag and drop it in your tank it will keep down the ammonia level too there is alot of products on the maket that work great with out water changes
i have listed some one more is ammonia liquid drops sold at your pet store.

Answer 4

There are products that do that now go to a good pet store that sells fish and they will show you.