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Can trash bins leach ammonia?


mari.harutunian

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It seems those lady palm plants are really expensive. I'm trying to find some other good ammonia eaters that are not toxic to cats because my cats eat my plants.

 

I think in this airborne ammonia situation, the algae growth in the tanks is quite ironically a good thing. Algae uses up ammonia more easily/faster than nirate, so it is keeping everything else in the tanks from dying of ammonia toxicity.

 

 

 

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I ordered this exact kit and it delivers next week.


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It seems those lady palm plants are really expensive. I'm trying to find some other good ammonia eaters that are not toxic to cats because my cats eat my plants.
 
I think in this airborne ammonia situation, the algae growth in the tanks is quite ironically a good thing. Algae uses up ammonia more easily/faster than nirate, so it is keeping everything else in the tanks from dying of ammonia toxicity.
 
 
 


For ammonia eating plants i feel like you can’t be sure the plant would absorb it before it diffused into water. Especially if no other method is going to be used.

I have buckets of hair algae in my tank and a decently large clam so I’m sure that’s where all the ammonia that gets into my tank goes to.

I absolutely cannot wait to see what fixing this problem will do for my reef tank :)


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(edited)

The air filters designed for removing ammonia are embedded with carbon, alumina, and potassium permanganate. The machines are exceedingly expensive. There are some HVAC unit filters  that are still around $100 just for one, so I will keep looking for something cheaper that will fit the unit.

Edited by treesprite
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The air filters designed for removing ammonia are embedded with carbon, alumina, and potassium permanganate. The machines are exceedingly expensive. There are some HVAC unit filters  that are still around $100 just for one, so I will keep looking for something cheaper that will fit the unit.


Yikes. This kitty litter is x2 as expensive as regular litter. Will let you know how it works for me.


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I have a kitty litter box just a few feet away from my water storage. Just tested ammonia to check, but it’s zero. I think the issue is more likely due to chloramines causing ammonia gas to get through rodi, then converting to liquid as the stored water gasses off. I run dual carbon blocks and dual di. Check out the brstv video.





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(edited)
6 hours ago, mari.harutunian said:

 


Yikes. This kitty litter is x2 as expensive as regular litter. Will let you know how it works for me.


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The Sofresh brand at Petco has a version of litter specifically for breaking down ammonia. I usually use a sand-sized crystal litter, but I'm going to try this ammonia stuff - it is a cheaper litter but it still might be better as far as ammonia goes.

 

I got some ammonia reducer filter pads at Petco today, to try to catch up ammonia before it feeds algae. I need to figure out how to put them in the tank. I have some HOB filters, one is a double biowheel exlg penguin filter -  I might put that on with pieces of the ammonia pads stuck in it.

Edited by treesprite
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10 hours ago, jhOU said:

I have a kitty litter box just a few feet away from my water storage. Just tested ammonia to check, but it’s zero. I think the issue is more likely due to chloramines causing ammonia gas to get through rodi, then converting to liquid as the stored water gasses off. I run dual carbon blocks and dual di. Check out the brstv video.

 

 

 

 

Remember, in Mari's case, her water sample starts out with zero ammonia (coming out of the RO/DI) and then, when left in the open air, accumulates ammonia. That's different than the scenario where ammonia is present coming out of the RO/DI system.

 

 

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Ammonia airtest downstairs away from litterbox:

26706b745ce871ab3398a05cece8b41b.jpg2e96c1552462591523a47c03ef710932.jpg

Ammonia test in room with litterbox:

b6e34b825717d7e188bc467f1f7318ea.jpg9ca6a31a501ea68d79a52a4b45b410dd.jpg

The color isn’t as distinct as i want it to be but it’s really used for high level measurement which i didnt realize.

 

 

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I can't tell if it's 5 or 10 or what, but I can see that it's non-zero. So that confirms your earlier tests.

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I can't tell if it's 5 or 10 or what, but I can see that it's non-zero. So that confirms your earlier tests.


I think its 5 max maybe a bit under 5. Have to redo when it’s bright daylight out. Just got the special kitty litter. Will retest after use. Maybe also the mason jar test I’m not a big fan of these strips.


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Now that I’ve figured out the source of my ammonia and seemingly resolved that problem with the special cat litter(the air test hasn’t register anything for a week), I’m going to try and bring this tank back from the brink. I know i said i had algae problems but i really meant it:
513fe6f30d560e1dfa81b39552bcae28.jpg
Over the next month i will be preforming aggressive waterchanges and removing as much algae as possible. Probably vacuum the sand bed. Am i missing anything? Do you guys recommend one large water change or constant medium or small ones?
(This is a 36 gallon tank btw)

Thanks!




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Looks like most of your livestock should be hardy enough for a large (e.g 50%) water change. Just match temp and salinity before the change. Then go on a regular weekly water changes . I agree You can manually remove the hair algae and vacuum the sand bed. I would avoid any quick fix algae killers if it were my tank. Let the algae consume the excess nutrients and it will eventually starve itself out. Are you running a refugium or scrubber/reactor? It will help in the long run as well.

 

 

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I used fluxanole (used for battling parasites in Fish) to kill off bryopsis in my tank. It worked like magic and it killed off the small amount of GHA I had too. My Coral and fish didn't seem to even notice it was in my tank.

I'd do some research before using it though, if you decide to go that route. If all the algae in your tank dies off at once and you aren't removing it/ reoxygenating the water, you could have far worse problems.



-A-a-ron

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Looks like most of your livestock should be hardy enough for a large (e.g 50%) water change. Just match temp and salinity before the change. Then go on a regular weekly water changes . I agree You can manually remove the hair algae and vacuum the sand bed. I would avoid any quick fix algae killers if it were my tank. Let the algae consume the excess nutrients and it will eventually starve itself out. Are you running a refugium or scrubber/reactor? It will help in the long run as well.
 
 


I’m not running any scrubber or reactor, it’s just very hard for me to put in on an AIO tank. Also i will avoid the quick fixes- if tried them all and they’ve never worked for long. Thanks for the recommendation!


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I used fluxanole (used for battling parasites in Fish) to kill off bryopsis in my tank. It worked like magic and it killed off the small amount of GHA I had too. My Coral and fish didn't seem to even notice it was in my tank.

I'd do some research before using it though, if you decide to go that route. If all the algae in your tank dies off at once and you aren't removing it/ reoxygenating the water, you could have far worse problems.



-A-a-ron




I have tried flux before but it only worked briefly before it all came back bc there was still a problem with ammonia. I think I’ll try doing the regular route and then resort to flux if it’s dire. Thanks for the suggestion!


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Air is still registering ammonia with the mason jar test. Will move litter box further and retest after airing the place out. It registers less ammonia than before though. This does hinder my water change plans :(


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2fcc4430790e28a5a7234d372106a1b6.jpg
Open air tap water test 4/25 exposed 24+ hours
6a30a573e8164a71fd0c7db2a186faf0.jpg
Fresh tap water for comparison

Still a little lingering ammonia after moving the litter box to the other end of the hall. Not sure of the cause, i wouldve thought there would be none after a few days. This is much easier to work with than the high ppm ammonia that i had before though. It takes longer for any to get into the water and it’s in small concentrations so hopefully another week and there won’t be any.
Tank looks same as before except i removed probably a pound of algae. I think it’s more worth it to water change now since the ammonia concentration is so low so I’ll start that. A lot of algae has detached from rock and is clogging my water intake grate and back compartments. I don’t know if that’s a by product of me loosening it manually or less ammonia content in the air.


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  • 1 month later...

Over the last few months I’ve only done one water change and a lot of pulling out hair algae. It hasn’t seemed worth it to do more water changes because there’s still ammonia registering in the sitting water even if only for a day(much lower than before, however). The hair algae i pulled grew back in full in a week. In the last couple days there has been a decent sized die off of hair algae that has clogged my overflow a few times. Unfortunately this came right before leaving for vacation so I’m not sure what it looks like at the moment. I’m assuming this might be because the ammonia has finally dissipated. Will update you guys when I’m back in a week.


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(edited)
On 4/16/2019 at 6:27 PM, mari.harutunian said:

Now that I’ve figured out the source of my ammonia and seemingly resolved that problem with the special cat litter(the air test hasn’t register anything for a week), I’m going to try and bring this tank back from the brink. I know i said i had algae problems but i really meant it:
513fe6f30d560e1dfa81b39552bcae28.jpg
Over the next month i will be preforming aggressive waterchanges and removing as much algae as possible. Probably vacuum the sand bed. Am i missing anything? Do you guys recommend one large water change or constant medium or small ones?
(This is a 36 gallon tank btw)

Thanks!




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My tank looks the same as this.

 

I couldn't do anything with salt water for a while due to an allergic reaction on my hands. But when I eventually tested my unused water, it had ammonia in it. I bought some ammonia sponge stuff so the test then read zero - there wasn't any point in making all new saltwater when the water in the tank was (presumably) also taking in ammonia , but I didn't want to add ammonia (the tank reading was zero, due to the usual biological process). I discovered some spots where it turns out cat was peeing in secret, put an end to that nonsense.

 

Hopefully I can get my tank back on track too, which could have started happening sooner if it weren't for me being allergic to the steering wheel of my car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by treesprite
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My tank looks the same as this.
 
I couldn't do anything with salt water for a while due to an allergic reaction on my hands. But when I eventually tested my unused water, it had ammonia in it. I bought some ammonia sponge stuff so the test then read zero - there wasn't any point in making all new saltwater when the water in the tank was (presumably) also taking in ammonia , but I didn't want to add ammonia (the tank reading was zero, due to the usual biological process). I discovered some spots where it turns out cat was peeing in secret, put an end to that nonsense.
 
Hopefully I can get my tank back on track too, which could have started happening sooner if it weren't for me being allergic to the steering wheel of my car.
 
 
 
 
 
 



Allergies are the worst. I’ve been getting random hives for the last couple years during any season. Weirdly enough after a couple months with the litter box out of my adjacent room, my flimsy fingernails are now super hard?? Not sure if it’s related at all but supposedly ammonia weakens nails.

My cat is 14 and has little patience for walking down the hall to use the litterbox. I’ve had to be super vigilant of any kind of fabric on the floor. If you have carpet and your cat has been peeing there, you should look in to checking the wood underneath. It soaks into it and never leaves.

Where did you get the ammonia sponge? Is it something you can put into the tank?


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  • 3 weeks later...

The GHA has steadily been dying but it’s been raising phosphates and covering everything in cyano. Waterchange is currently in progress and i just took out probably 4 cups of decaying algae. After this entire ordeal, most of my lps is dead, a green pocci colony is mostly dead, and my gorgonians have dead tips. Still have my leathers, monti caps, cespitularia, alveopora, and some little unhappy frags. Oh and all my rock flower anemones but none of my small BTAs :(

Survival of the fittest, unfortunately.



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  • 4 weeks later...

How is your tank doing now?

 

I too had the algae die-off and have the cyano now. I haven't bothered doing any chemical tests because it is rather obvious what is going on in the tank. Basically, the tank is in the end of a very long, drawn-out cycling process, with the chemistry of algae die-off to complicate the situation. Since any damage was already done, I've been kind of letting the tank go through the process without going overboard on water changes, thinking too much of that would be more of an interference than a help. I just can't put anything new in the tank for a while that wants perfect conditions. I thought about setting up a temp tank for new stuff, if I want anything from ff.

 

 

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