Ammonia and Skimmate

[GoatmealJones]

Do protein skimmers directly remove ammonia ion per se (via skimmate), or only nitrogen containing/general organic macromolecules? Will adding my skimmer to my live rock curing vat help directly reduce NH3 levels?

 

[Skydvr]

It will help by removing things before they can break down in the water column, but it will not remove it directly.

 

[GoatmealJones]

I see. In general, does there exist a filter media that does in fact directly remove NH3, or is the only way to lower NH3 by water change? I just bought uncured live rock from florida and dont want all the life to die from excess ammonia. Right at 1ppm at the moment, whats the upper limit where I would begin to harm marine life in terms of NH3 concentration? Thank you for your help.

 

[Skydvr]

Polyfilter will adsorb ammonia, as will Chemipure. I believe zeolite is another option. Prime will bind it into a less harmful form. Ammo-lock from API is another liquid product, but I do not know how effective it is.

I know there are other options, but nothing I can think of off the top of my head.

At 1ppm, you are probably at or above the level where organisms will start suffering.

I have had success with Polyfilter (it is a rebranded, and not as highly controlled, therefore less expensive, version of the filter material used in dialysis machines) and Fluval’s combined Zeo-Carb when moving or just transferring tanks and needed to go a few days to a week between getting fish into the new setup.

 

[GoatmealJones]

thanks, might try some purigen i have laying around. just did an 75 percent water change and did not realize how raw this rock was. hopefully the bottled nitrifying bacteria i applied will help get the NH3 down.

 

[Cory]

Ozone destroys ammonia thats all i know that does.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

No, ammonia is not itself skimmable. A tiny amount might be lost to the air with any type of aeration.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I actually do not think a polyfilter directly binds ammonia from seawater.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have had success with Polyfilter (it is a rebranded, and not as highly controlled, therefore less expensive, version of the filter material used in dialysis machines) and Fluval’s combined Zeo-Carb when moving or just transferring tanks and needed to go a few days to a week between getting fish into the new setup.

I don’t believe dialysis machines do filtration like that. Why do you believe that dialysis machines include a chemical filtration component? Dialysis is more akin to an ro membrane:
https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/hemodialysis

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

thanks, might try some purigen i have laying around. just did an 75 percent water change and did not realize how raw this rock was. hopefully the bottled nitrifying bacteria i applied will help get the NH3 down.

Fwiw, Purigen does not bind ammonia either. It binds organic matter.

 

[GoatmealJones]

Thank you for your help. how concerned should I be about ammonia levels at 1-1.5 ppm in my live rock curing vat? The rock is raw aquacultured rock and contains a lot of live critters and nice coraline algae which i would, ideally, like to have make through the cycling process. What is the upper limit for safe ammonia under these circumstances, specifically in regards to keeping the corealine algae preserved?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’d be concerned for the critters, but it is also not unusual. I do not know about coralline in particular , which does often suffer die off. To limit it, I’d not do anything to boost alk or pH, and I might use something like Prime and it water changes. That will likely slow cycling, however.

 

[Skydvr]

The packaging for Polyfilter says that removes ammonia.

I had a conversation with someone that was telling me that the original use for the pads was for dialysis machines, which he had learned directly from the owner of the company that distributes them and that he knows someone that breeds a lot of fresh water fish that buys it in bulk instead of paying retail prices for the stuff that is marketed for the aquarium trade. I suppose I should have done some research on that first before parroting what I heard elsewhere.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The packaging for Polyfilter says that removes ammonia.

I had a conversation with someone that was telling me that the original use for the pads was for dialysis machines, which he had learned directly from the owner of the company that distributes them and that he knows someone that breeds a lot of fresh water fish that buys it in bulk instead of paying retail prices for the stuff that is marketed for the aquarium trade. I suppose I should have done some research on that first before parroting what I heard elsewhere.

Manufacturer claims are frequently not a good source of info. This is a case in point. They either do not know, or do not care to explain, that a product may bind ammonia in freshwater, but not in seawater.

Any negatively charged polymer will bind positively charged ammonium ions if those are the only ions present. Add in vastly greater numbers of other positively charged ions as in seawater (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, etc.) that compete for these binding sites , then it will no longer bind as much ammonium (or in this case, any significant amount).