Recharging of Zeolite Resin

Zeolite is great in a new tank. It removes "most" of the NH4 and NO2; not all of it. Probably 80%, but hard to measure, if not impossible. It only lasts a month, and during this period the absorbtion ability diminishes steadily. Hence it allows the NH4/NO2 to increase at a slow rate, allowing your nitrifying bacteria population to grow as more food becomes available. But remember, they also need O2, so without adequate O2 you will be limiting your population of nitrifying bacteria.

After a month the absorbtion of NH4/NO2 is reduced to almost nothing. At this point you can probably just leave the zeolite in the filter, as it makes for pretty decent biological media. It does not leach anything back into the water, like activated carbon would.

Regards
Lauré

 

thanks laure, i thought that Zeolites would leach out Ammonia into the water once used up...so, i guess Zeolites do slow down the process, but not by a considerable amount?