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RE: Aquatic Plants Digest V4 #1325
Thanks for the reply. Let me restate my question: can you combine amquel with your ammonia solution to negate the ammonia's toxicity to your aquarium dwellers while still having the ammonia be available to the plants?
Of course, whether it would benefit the plants without causing an algae outbreak is another question.
-- Stephen
> Stephen Boulet wrote:
>
> > No one seems to want to answer this question: if you dose
> NH4 with a product like amquel, can you eliminate its toxicity?
>
> I wasn't aware that Amquel contained ammonia. Are you
> referring the the
> ammonia released from chloramines?
>
> At any rate, uncharged NH3 is toxic, while NH4+ is relatively
> non-toxic. Both NH3 and NH4+ are present together, but the proportion
> of toxic NH3 drops as the pH drops. If you can be sure that the pH in
> your tank won't rise above (for instance) 7.2, then it is possible to
> dose ammonia at a safe level. The lower you can keep you pH
> the higher
> you can dose the ammonia. Beware though, because the ammonia
> sensitivity of different species of verts and inverts is variable and
> what is safe for one critter can be toxic for another. The
> amount that
> you dose has to be based on response of the most sensitive critter in
> your tank.
>
>
> Roger Miller