Ammo Balls

[Gannet]

hi guys, i got asked about these the other day and have never heard of them.

the showed me a pic and they look like bio ball but have a thing in the middel that removes ammonia

any info would be good

[SpidersWeb]

In the event of a large ammonia build up, and where large water changes (30-50%) are not possible, then its a reasonable way to remove ammonia. I can also see it being used to remove ammonium from acidic tanks without disturbing inhabitants. ALso perhaps temporarily if you're dosing your tank with a medication that kills your beneficial bacteria (but you should have a quarantene tank for that).

For regular ammonia removal its best to leave the natural population of 'beneficial bacteria' do their job (which is the point of ceramic bio rings). Ammonia removing filtering agents will starve the bacteria of food, then when clogged (or removed), there is a large increase of ammonia in the tank water (basically re-start the cycling process). So you'd be forced to replace the ammoballs with more ammoballs whenever your ammonia spiked - and you'd need to either watch for sick/dead fish or test regularly to be sure when to change it.

I would discourage their use except in emergency situations where there is no alternative. Fresh water is usually the better solution.

[Freakyfish]

All they use to help remove ammonia is carbon

They are good in an emergency as they can just be chucked into the tank

Dont use them when medicating your tank as it will remove the medication from the water

Brad