A ? about buying Ammonia for Cycling..

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Brody3665

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Jun 16, 2005
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Going to add ammonia to the tank to kickstart the cycle and wanted to know what exactly to look for on the bottle as far as ingredients and label....I think I found some at the local grocery store last night but wanted to check here first...
 

hurricanejedi

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Theres a sticky on top of the thread that talk about what to look for. Basically ingrediants should be ammonia, water, and chelating agents are ok. Nothing with scents. People will buy stuff and shake it when they get home to see if it foams (foaming is bad). I just bought some at Walmart last night. I think its Clear Ammonia and is a generic brand. Only 97cents. Its also what people mention in the other thread.
 

Bosemani Fan

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Oct 15, 2005
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Here is an Artilcle that a friend and I wrote, and we discuss the proper ammonia to use. :

HOW TO FISHLESS CYCLE YOUR AQUARIUM
By Chad Lane & Hailey J. Hale

Before we tell you how to fishless cycle, we will define cycling, and explain the difference between fishless cycling and cycling with fish. Cycling (also known as the nitrogen cycle) is a natural and inevitable process by which the toxic byproduct of the metabolic processes of fish, ammonia, is turned into less dangerous compounds by bacteria.
Fish and decomposing food and plants produce waste in the form of ammonia which builds uncontrolled in an un-cycled tank. Fish + ammonia = stress/death. Ammonia causes gill damage and consequent suffocation, neurological damage, and hemorrhage of the capillaries in the skin and organs, as well as making fish very susceptible to diseases because of stress. Cycling begins when two kinds of airborne bacteria (Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter) settle into the water and attach themselves to surfaces in the tank (especially in the filter media and substrate), seeking that ammonia as a food source. The Nitrosomonas bacteria consume ammonia, turning it into another similar, but slightly less dangerous compound, nitrite. The Nitrobacter bacteria then consume the nitrite, converting it into a far less dangerous compound, nitrate. Fish can handle nitrate as long as it is kept below 40ppm, which can be accomplished easily in a well stocked tank with regular partial water changes.
Because it is inevitable and will happen naturally, cycling can be accomplished in quite a few ways. It is often done with fish in the tank, allowing the process to happen naturally. Most people buy their first aquarium, set it up, add dechlorinated water, and add fish the same day or within a few days, thinking all they have to do is let the water temperature reach a desired point. After two to four weeks the fish start dying, and they don’t know why. It is because until the tank has fully cycled, the fish are swimming in a toxic pool of ammonia and/or nitrite. This is why allowing the process to happen naturally is a very bad idea. The fish that do survive the cycling process will have suffered, and many will have sustained permanent damage. Their suffering can be kept to a minimum by testing the water regularly and performing water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels low, but a certain amount of these toxins must be allowed to exist in the tank in order to feed the bacteria during cycling, which results in fish suffering.
Fishless cycling is a method which makes this process occurs before adding fish to the tank. With fishless cycling there are no fish to harm, and a bottle of ammonia is cheaper than fish anyway. Furthermore, the amount of ammonia added is more than that produced by a reasonable number of cycling fish, which results in a faster growth of bacterial colonies, and larger colonies when complete because bacterial colonies will only grow to the largest size that can be supported by the available food source. This gives you the option of fully stocking your tank after the cycling is complete as long as you are careful not to overstock. And finally, fishless cycling is faster because you are not waiting for the ammonia to spike at 4-5ppm which can take weeks, but rather, dosing it to that level the first day. These reasons, as well as many others, are why we always strongly recommend fishless cycling.

Now comes the “How to” part.

Your tank should be fully set-up with substrate, filter, heater, décor, and plants and filled with dechlorinated water. Your water temperature should be stable at 85-86 degrees and you should also provide extra aeration because the bacteria you are attempting to grow are aerobic (meaning they require oxygen to live and breed) and the higher the temperature of the water, the less oxygen it can hold. This can be accomplished by lowering the water level in the tank a few inches, allowing the filter to make a bigger splash or by simply adding an air stone and pump. If possible you should “seed” the tank by adding a cup of gravel, a piece of filter media, ornaments, plants, or anything that has come from an established, disease free tank (filter media such as sponges, floss, and biowheels are the most effective at seeding the tank, and can be placed in the filter in your new tank). If you lack access to a safe established tank, you can purchase a bottle of BioSpira to help seed the tank (keep in mind there are other products that say they will do the same thing, but they rarely work, and are a waste of your money). The store you purchase it from should keep it refrigerated though, so if it is not, the bacteria are probably dead anyway, and it won’t help you.

There are several supplies you will need to fishless cycle your aquarium. You will need a good test kit for ammonia, one for nitrite, and one for nitrate. I suggest a master freshwater test kit with liquid reagents and test tubes (like the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals master test kit), as dip strips tend to give inaccurate, vague readings. You may need to purchase an additional test kit for either nitrate or ammonia if you buy a master kit, as some brands lack one or the other of these tests…make sure you end up with all three of the tests you will need. You will also need pure ammonia (often called “clear ammonia”). You can find ammonia at stores like Walmart, grocery stores (often what you want is the cheap store brand), or hardware stores. Or, a better grade of ammonia can be found in chemical supply stores. There are two different kinds of ammonia, ammonium chloride and ammonium hydroxide. Ammonium hydroxide is very dilute making it difficult to judge the proper amount to add. Also, these are sold as cleaning solutions and often contain scents, dyes and surfactants, all of which are detrimental to your aquarium. So, if you use ammonium hydroxide, make sure it is free of any scents, dyes, and surfactants; it should only list ammonium and soft water (some may list chelating agents…this will be fine). If you are still unsure, you can shake the bottle. Ammonia with surfactants will foam, while “good” ammonia will not. We suggest the use of ACS or reagent grade granular ammonium chloride or ammonium hydroxide. We suggest using granular because when using a liquid, it is harder to accurately measure because as it ages, the concentration changes much more than granular ammonia. Here is a link to find out more about ammonia: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60260 . And finally, you will need a clean dropper or clean measuring spoons. A dropper is better when using liquid ammonia because it is much more precise.


Now we are ready to begin cycling.

• Add X amount of ammonia drops or teaspoons until your ammonia level reaches 5ppm on your test kit. Make sure you count your drops so you know how much you will need to add to bring it back up to this level later. The same goes for using measuring spoons…know how much you are adding. You will usually use something like 3-5 drops per gallon or 1/2 teaspoon of liquid ammonia per 10 gallons.
• Now you will need to test your ammonia level everyday, and when your ammonia level falls to 1ppm you will need to add more ammonia to bring it back up to 5ppm. You will continue this process until your ammonia level drops to 0ppm 8-12 hours after bringing it up to 5ppm. At this point you will have a large enough colony of ammonia consuming bacteria, and you are halfway done.
• Now you will need to test for nitrite daily; it should be very high at this point. Continue to add enough ammonia daily to bring the ammonia level to 1-2ppm and wait for the nitrite level to fall as the ammonia did. The nitrite will take longer than the ammonia does to fall, but be patient. And if it gets “stuck” with the nitrite refusing to fall for more than 2 weeks, try doing a 25% water change. Sometimes bringing the nitrite level down a bit will help the bacteria grow faster because it can be toxic even to them in a high enough concentration.
• You will know you’re finished when your ammonia and nitrite levels are both at 0ppm. The tank should be able to process additional doses of ammonia completely to nitrate within a 24 hour period if the bacterial colonies are sufficient.
• Regular water changes should only be done after the cycling is done and your nitrate level is high.
• Now that the tank is cycled, you are ready to do a massive water change (75-80%),
Refill with dechlorinated water. And don’t forget to adjust you heater back down to a livable temperature.


Now that your tank is cycled you are ready to add fish. As we said before, as long as you are not overstocking the tank, you should be able to add all the fish you want at once. Or you can choose to add just a few fish, and then quarantine further additions in another tank so you don’t introduce disease into the tank (a very good idea). Further additions would need to be added slowly, only a few every couple weeks, since much of the bacteria you grew during cycling would have died by the time you add more fish.
 

hurricanejedi

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Apr 4, 2005
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I think I overdosed ammonia last night. I put something like 3 cups in. It was really silly.... I didn't realize I needed to wait 5 minutes on my test kit......
 

rrkss

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Dec 2, 2005
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Waterchange it out and start again.

Just remember the ammonia needs time to diffuse through the watercolumn. With the filters running, I usually wait 10-15 minutes before testing my ammonia concentration when I add ammonia. Then I write down how much ammonia I added and what concentration it resulted in (ie: 1 capful = 2 ppm in 29 gallons) This allows me to work out how much more I need to add to get my target level of 4 ppm.
 

DirkW

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Oct 28, 2005
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hurricanejedi said:
I think I overdosed ammonia last night. I put something like 3 cups in. It was really silly.... I didn't realize I needed to wait 5 minutes on my test kit......
The first time I tried it, I put in a capfull and it was too much for a 29G tank. Plus, it can take several hours for the ammonia to fully circulate the tank. Having learned the hard way, here's a few suggestions:

1) Get a dropper just for adding ammonia.
2) Use 1ML per every 10G to start.
3) Don't add more than 5PPM.
4) Wait 6 hours after adding the ammonia before testing.
5) Be patient. It took me 8 weeks to get the cycle going (partly due to adding too much ammonia).
 

hurricanejedi

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Should I do a 100% water change? The water is cloudy anyway from the substrate so it would probably be a good thing.
 
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