Morning everyone!! :greensmile

Got a question. What is everyones opinion on ammonia bags? I have an AquaClear filter with foam, ammonia bag and carbon bag and I really don't know how useful their ammonia & carbon bags are.

I know you can pretty much reuse the foam forever or until it starts to break apart but for how long can I safely use the carbon and ammonia chips and are they among the best on the market?

And if you keep the ammonia bag in for to long can it leach the ammonia back into the tank?

Thanks!

The ammonia bag is not necessary if you just do water changes if you are getting your tank cycled. If your tank is already cycled you won't need the ammonia bag. As for the carbon bag, you only need one if you want to take out medications instead of doing a large water change. Fill in the extra space with more Bio-Max or a foam block.

Thanks! One less unnesscary thing I have to spend on my fish. I think my money can be better spent on the more important things for them.

Yeah, a lot of people buy unnecessary things that they use all the time when they rarely need to use it at all.

The ammonia bag will remove ammonia from the water until it is all full-- then it just becomes another place for biobugs to grow. I believe some types of ammonia-removers will release ammonia back into the water if exposed to salt, so to be on the safe side I would just take it out.

I stuff my filters with filter pads, floss, and ceramic rings/bioballs. The only reasons to use charcoal or ammonia remover is if you're medicating or cycling.

Thank you. I'm getting the impression I'm just wasting my money on this stuff when it ain't need for the moment and even possibly harming my fish with ammonia leaching back into the tanks because I'm currently using salt.

I've never heard of ceramic rings/bioballs. Can you get them anywhere or only at certain major chain petstores?

Well, what thoughtsofjoy uses is similar to the Bio-Max we use on our AquaClears.

Gotcha! Thanks!