How I use ammo-lock!

So you may be familiar with the chemical ammo-lock which converts ammonia into a nontoxic form. this is used by many aquarists as an emergency patch in case of an ammonia spike in their tank but I use it a different way. as we all know adding new fish to a system cause a mini-cycle in which small amounts of nitrite and ammonia appear as the biological filter builds up. these trace amounts can cause some stress to your fish but usually aren't a problem. I figured though that this mini-cycle could contribute to an early demise of the already stressed out new comers. however an ammonia removing chemical just prolongs the mini-cycle because eventually the biological-filter has to grow. here is the ah-ha moment... ammo-lock doesn't actually remove ammonia it just changes it to a non-toxic form soooo if you add it with any new additions the fish aren't exposed to additional stress and the biological-filter can grow harmlessly! so what do ya think? good idea, huh!

hey sweetie.....sounds like a good idea.......but IMO, adding anything that isn't necessary is the best way to go......the better solution for destressing your fish is proper quarantine, good feeding and planning (to make sure the fish are compatible ahead of time AND they have what they need in their environment).....but that's just my opinion.....

so........anyone else wanna chime in?

Agreed. The only thing I'd add is introducing the new fish from quarantine to the main tank when the lights are out.

I have wondered about that too. When adding a whole batch of fish, the general procedure is to spike the tank with extra bacteria just prior to the new additions. But, I am curious if Ammo lock could be of use in those situations. I doubt it's really much of an issue if you're only adding 1 fish at a time, but for commercial applications where it's only feasible to add all the fish at once, it might have a similar benefit as bacteria. Also, I would want to know how ammo lock works and how it's metabolized. Before taking the manufacturer at their word, I'd want to know more details.