HagenKB

Ammonia Remover inhibits bacteria

I was told that if I use ammonia remover, my bacteria colony would not be working. That the ammonia remover would make it so the Nitrifying bacteria would die off.

I was told that if I use ammonia remover, my bacteria colony would not be working. That the ammonia remover would make it so the Nitrifying bacteria would die off.
Amrid is a very useful product, but like most other filter media it is difficult to tell when it has been exhausted by the ammonia in the tank. So, even when you think it is working, it may have been in too long and it is actually creating a lot of places for bacteria to populate and work on the excess.

Amrid is not a cure, it really can't be seen to eliminate all ammonia in the tank before the bacteria can get to it. I have never seen an aquarium be inhibited in its biological filtration by the use of Amrid, or the sudden rise of ammonia when it is not re-added to an aquarium after it has been used.

As a matter of fact, I was at a seminar given by Dr. Timothy Hovanec, who was very excited about his recent research into the compound that Amrid (and other) Ammonia Remover uses. He found that the actual generation of the bacteria for nitrification was speeded up - not hindered - when the ammonia remover was there. In essence he found that the curves of deadly ammonia and nitrite were much lower, if recollection serves by about half when the two processes were used in combination in the first few months of the tank. He also was commenting how this was useful in the beginning but could be eliminated later, that tells me that the bacterial colonies were there and active without real problem or inhibition.

Also, remember that bacterial populations are geometrical. They essentially can double over each replication period. So, even if the Amrid was reducing the number of bacteria there by a little, the next replication will double that population and then quadruple it the second replication which in fresh water for nitrosomonas(the nitrifying bacteria we use in Cycle) is every 8 hours.

I hope you can see why I am not worried about the use of Amrid hurting the bacterial population that eliminates ammonia or nitrite. Other chemical products like AmmoLock 2 have me much more worried according to our testing here - where that product does in fact seem to inhibit the production and generation of bacteria. The tests indicate that over use will actually kill the bacteria and allow ammonia to build up. Amrid is not that type of product, and starvation of the bacteria is not an issue as far as we can see in any of our testing.

Back To Results