How to use zeolite?

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leopoldmoor
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 2:18 pm

How to use zeolite?

Post by leopoldmoor » Sun Sep 23, 2012 11:03 am

I'm interested in how to use the zeolite. I found all sorts of information on the website Zeolite but I need specifically and precise instructions.

Diana
Posts: 4675
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:35 am
Location: Near San Franciso

Re: How to use zeolite?

Post by Diana » Sat Sep 29, 2012 7:27 pm

Zeolite is a material that will remove ammonia from the water.
It gets full, and can be rejuvenated.

It works best if there is not very much ammonia to remove.

Here is how I would deal with a tank with an ammonia problem:

1) Is the tap water very similar to the tank for GH, KH, TDS and pH?
If yes, then do as many and as large water changes as needed to keep the ammonia as low as possible. Under .25 ppm if at all possible.
If no, then pleas post the GH, KH, TDS and pH of tank and tap and I will work out some water changes that will not cause problems for the fish. (If you do not have a TDS meter, that is OK)
Keep on vacuuming the substrate to remove decomposing matter, and clean the filter. Use water removed from the tank to clean the filter. The less decomposing matter in the tank the lower the ammonia.

2) Add zeolite to the filter in 3 nylon bags. Call them A, B and C to keep the rest of these instructions understandable. I use cut up nylon stockings. The volume will depend on the amount of ammonia in the water, and the volume of the tank, but it is hard to use too much. Put lots of it in, divided into 3 bags.

3) Next day remove bag A put it into a bowl with salt water. Best method: Put zeolite in a bowl with warm water and keep on adding salt and stirring to dissolve it until no more salt will dissolve. Some salt will remain at the bottom of the bowl . Stir it or shake it as often as possible. Pour out the first batch of salt water and put fresh in every 8 hours for 3 times.

4) Next day put bag A in a bowl with tap water and rinse off most of the salt. Take bag B out of the aquarium filter and start soaking it in salt water.

5) Put bag A back in the filter and continue treating bag B. When bag B is done with the salt treatment get bag C out of the filter.

Reasons:
By keeping one fresh and one somewhat used bag of zeolite in the filter you are getting maximum ammonia removal. By rotating them through the regeneration process you are daily putting in a fresh supply in the filter.
The actual way that has been tested to regenerate zeolite works better, but is not so easy to set up, soaking it in a bowl is just fine.
The actual method involves running salt water through a pipe that has been filled with zeolite, and involves controlling the pH and the flow rate.

Eventually several things will happen:
The tank will cycle. The nitrifying bacteria will grow and begin to handle the ammonia.
The zeolite can get contaminated with stuff that does not come out in the brine soak, so the zeolite loses its effectiveness.

Other ways to help the tank with ammonia problems:
Find the source of the ammonia. Dead fish? Overfeeding?
Add lots of thriving plants, and include the light and other things they need to grow well.
Add Nitrospira species of bacteria. This can come from another tank that is fully cycled and healthy, or it can come from a bottle. Read the label, and do not settle for 'just as good'. Nitrospira is the species of bacteria the tank needs. Do not waste money on anything else. Make sure the conditions in the tank are optimum for growing these bacteria.
Feed less. High protein food contributes more nitrogen to the tank, raising the ammonia. If the fish will eat vegetables, algae and similar foods, then do that. If you are feeding carnivorous fish they do need food, but cut back as much as you can.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.

Happy fish keeping!

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