Loaches Online Forum

Had to move my loaches from 29 gal to a 10 gal tank since my GF needed medication. Now I'm going thru the ammonia cycle in the new 10 gallon with my 4 loaches. I want to help my poor little ones get thru this awful phase and used the "Ammonia Clear" tabs to reduce the level a little. It is at "stress level" on the meter inside of tank. It has been 9 days since the transfer. Is there any way to help them thru this to reduce the stress??
At least they are moving around a little now and eating. Any suggestions??
Can I continue using Ammonia Clear tablets?

I did only on an EMERGENCY because my filters went through a cycle after an accident. My ammonia skyrocketed to 1.0 ppm overnight and I panicked.

Nitrites never seem to show up in my tank, ever, I've never had a reading of it except for the first cycle my tank did.

My husband works near a walmart so i told him to stop on the way home, adn all they had to neutralize was ammonia clear.

Worked like a charm.

I stopped using it once I had prime though, because I believe it may be a better product.

Use Prime if you can get it. It changes it to a non-toxic form, but you still lets you build up your biofilter. It also netralizes nitrates and nitrites

Here's the blurb from their website:

Prime™ is the complete and concentrated conditioner for both fresh and salt water. Prime™ removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. Prime™ converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank’s biofilter. Prime™ may be used during tank cycling to alleviate ammonia/nitrite toxicity. Prime™ detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them. It will also detoxify any heavy metals found in the tap water at typical concentration levels.Prime™ also promotes the production and regeneration of the natural slime coat. Prime™ is non-acidic and will not impact pH. Prime™ will not overactivate skimmers. Use at start-up and whenever adding or replacing water


Cheers,

Kevin

You could use zeolite. Will absorb ammonia without changing the chemistry. Short term solution only.

Really removing ammonia would be counter-productive, this will delay the time the cycle is established.

One solution is to lower the pH to about 6.2-6.4. At low pH ammonia becomes ammonium which is non-toxic but still contributes to the cycle. Prime (and others) do the same conversion.