What kind of ammonia did you use? The ammonia isn't suppose to foam, but I think your cloudy water may have been contributed by something else, doesn't that happen when there's a bacteria boom or because of something in the tap water? I thought the slimy stuff is normal too, but I'm new so people can correct me.NeonJulie said:
Ammonia, Hard to Find -- Poss Solution?
- Thread starter Roan Art
- Start date
Just checked my local Wallyworld, (Ofallon Mo, USA)and all they had was "clear ammonia" which had a surfactant in it. The shake test showed it was clear, but foamed up. Guess I'll check Target and maybe the grocery stores. You would think LFS would carry a good ammonia to use... 
Time to resurrect this thread....I'm a noob here but am in the process of doing a fisless cycle using Bio Spira and ammonia.
The ammonia I used was/is from Ace Hardware stores. I have a 35G "tower" tank and the water's cloudy after approximately 36 hours. I brought the ammonia level to 5ppm before dumping the Bio Spira in the tank.
We'll see what happens....
Interesting thread....
The ammonia I used was/is from Ace Hardware stores. I have a 35G "tower" tank and the water's cloudy after approximately 36 hours. I brought the ammonia level to 5ppm before dumping the Bio Spira in the tank.
We'll see what happens....
Interesting thread....
Yep, that's the stuff I'm using. I checked my tank this morning and my nitrites are going up so I guess it's on its way.......
One thing that tripped me up though is when I introduced the ammonia to the tank I was using Jungle strips to measure the ammonia. It's very hard to distinguish from one color to the next on the strips and so I went out and bought a Tetra Kit (reagent) for both Nitrite and Ammonia.
Sure enough, I put in more ammonia (more than 5ppm) and the indication was off the scale on the Tetra color chart.
I did a partial water change this morning to try and bring the ammonia down a bit.
But the good news is that the tank's cycling and the Bio Spira worked, albeit a bit pricey at $30 + 20 shipping!
This thread has been dead a while- but for someone searching like me...
Food Lion grocery stores has "Clear Ammonia" with no ingredients but does say no phosphates- no scent (at least none that I can detect other than the awful smell of ammonia) and doesn't foam when I shake it.
I assume this means it is safe?
Didn't know the shake test- thank god it passed after I've been putting this in my tank the last 3 days!
I have cloudy water on day 3- but I think that's my fault for not cleaning my sand thoroughly enough before putting it in- it's been cloudy since day 1. Will be doing major water change to clear the sediment (understanding it may slow my cycle down a bit).
Food Lion grocery stores has "Clear Ammonia" with no ingredients but does say no phosphates- no scent (at least none that I can detect other than the awful smell of ammonia) and doesn't foam when I shake it.
I assume this means it is safe?
Didn't know the shake test- thank god it passed after I've been putting this in my tank the last 3 days!
I have cloudy water on day 3- but I think that's my fault for not cleaning my sand thoroughly enough before putting it in- it's been cloudy since day 1. Will be doing major water change to clear the sediment (understanding it may slow my cycle down a bit).
