There is a mineral which selectively removes ammonium from the water. It is a zeolite called clinoptilolite. This can be found in the LFS as white granules. This material can remove about 1.74 mg NH4–N g−1 (“Ammonia Removal from Leachate solution using Natural Chinese Clinoptilolite”, Wang et. al. 2006).
A 100-gallon aquarium with 3 part per million ammonia in it, has roughly one gram of ammonia in it. One gram of ammonia will require 574 grams of zeolite, or over one pound of zeolite, to remove the ammonia. Considering that this costs about $20 and an 80% water change would do the same thing, as would a functioning cycled biofilter, I’m not too sure where there is much of a use for this material.
Startpage Aquariumscience
Source: Aquariumscience.org – David Bogert
The author, David Bogert, is a certified chemist, something that is only useful in the sections on chemicals such as conditioners and fertilizers. He has about 43 patents, mostly in the medical device field, which only helps with some DIY designs. But he also spent much of his life as a scientific researcher working on literature research, data analysis, statistics, and a little-understood field called “experimental design.” This experience is very applicable to ALL fishkeeping science. The author has been keeping all kinds of aquariums and all kinds of fish for over 54 years. He currently has ten large and many small aquariums. But note that he is not an “expert” in all aspects of aquarium keeping. The ecology of an aquarium is far too complex for anyone to be a true “expert” in all the different aspects. One can only search the journals and books for relevant research in each individual subject.
