Ammo-lock

[Naz_Nomad]

Ammo-Lock, or whatever it's called.

Exactly how does it work and how does it affect nitrifying bacteria in a tank?

I assume from reading the bottle the other day it converts ammonia to a non-toxic form. BUT... will that converted ammonia then starve bacteria looking for some ammonia to chow down on?

Just curious. I bought a bottle for shipping some fish but have never used it otherwise for myself.

Cheers guys.

[alanmin4304]

Yes

[Gannet]

from my memory of when i used to work in a pet shop, i was told by the internation rep (if this is the API brand)

that how it worked was change the ammonia into ammonium and by doing so it had to lower the pH to below 7, but because it was still ammonia just a less leathal version the bacteria wasnt killed off, just stunted for a day or 2...

hope that helps, and i hope i remembered it right.

[Stella]

Interesting....

This relates to something I have been learning recently about ammonia/pH/temperature in relation to native fish.

Ammonia = toxic

Ammonium = (virtually) non-toxic

Low temperature = more ammonium/less ammonia (LESS TOXIC)

High temperature = less ammonium/more ammonia (MORE TOXIC)

Low pH = more ammonium/less ammonia (LESS TOXIC)

High pH = less ammonium/more ammonia (MORE TOXIC)

Apparently my kokopu are very sensitive to raised ammonia levels. It is probably this rather than low oxygen than makes high temperatures (mid-20s) lethal. So, bearing the above in mind, if my tank has a low pH it will provide a bit of buffering against the free ammonia in a temperature spike. Likewise if the tank is cool enough but the pH is high, the cool will buffer against the free ammonia.

This goes into tremendous detail about ammonia etc:

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/n ... tcyc.shtml