Ammonia, Hard to Find -- Poss Solution?

[Holly9937]

I just had to go check out my bottle of ammonia... I bought it from Krogers, it says AMMONIA in big letters, then clear underneath it. It has no ingredient list, but it does say "contains no phosphates" BUT it gets really, really foamy when I shake it. I would not have trusted that to put in my tank.

 

[Raskolnikov]

Ha, if the lfs get into selling ammonia they'll just take a 1g jug (1.49), split it into 12 oz bottles, call it "FISHLESS CYCLE JUICE!!!" and sell them for $5.99 each. No thanks.

I saw something even better than that today at a Petco. It was a 2 gallon bottle of water for doing water changes in freshwater tanks. It was just water in a jug, advertised as "no chlorine, chloramine" and some bull**** about it being "oxygenated". I balked so much at the product that I didn't remember to check the price, but they were selling BOTTLED FRESHWATER FOR WATERCHANGES!

I only wish I had to means to market a product as stupid as this; I'd be rich.

 

[ParadoxLiz]

Liz, the LFS owner is a member of PIJAC and, through through that organization, he's been trained & certified to teach others in fishkeeping. He also trains other pet store staff (both private and chain pet/fish stores) throughout this area.

Thanks, mishi8! I'll follow the link and see what I can find.

Liz

 

[Intermision]

I saw something even better than that today at a Petco. It was a 2 gallon bottle of water for doing water changes in freshwater tanks. It was just water in a jug, advertised as "no chlorine, chloramine" and some bull**** about it being "oxygenated". I balked so much at the product that I didn't remember to check the price, but they were selling BOTTLED FRESHWATER FOR WATERCHANGES!

I only wish I had to means to market a product as stupid as this; I'd be rich.

At petco they have bottled water labeled "Betta Water" I can't imagine how much money they make off of that stuff.

 

[mishi8]

I just had to go check out my bottle of ammonia... I bought it from Krogers, it says AMMONIA in big letters, then clear underneath it. It has no ingredient list, but it does say "contains no phosphates" BUT it gets really, really foamy when I shake it. I would not have trusted that to put in my tank.

If it foams, then it's got surfactants (soap) in it. The ammonia I bought doesn't have an ingredients list, but I found the ingredients list online...if I hadn't, then I wouldn't have bought and used it. It is bottled by RW Packaging, who package many kinds of products (including pharmaceutical/first aid products) for a variety of companies and stores (Goldex Ammonia is likely exactly the same as Safeway brand).

BTW, here is a pic of the ammonia I use:

 

[ksimmo1]

Can you give me the exact brand name and what's on the label? A picture of the bottle would be awesome and would really help!

The brand is Homebest and it's in a clear bottle with a blue label, it comes in two sizes 32 oz and 64 oz. There is no reason they shouldn't have it on the shelf, its our store brand. If they don't, tell them to order it, here are the order codes: 32 oz Clear Ammonia 372-5703, 64 oz Clear Ammonia 372-5778. Even though the DC/ VA stores pull from a different warehouse then we do in Baltimore, we're supposed to use the same order codes.

Unfortunately I don't have a camera to take a picture of it for you.

 

[Onikun]

Can't you just substitute ammonia by dumping fish food into a tank and letting it rot. It should start the process. If not take some water from a established tank and some media from an established tank too.

 

[Roan Art]

This is great, guys!

Question for Americans -- unless things have changed since I moved to the United States in 1994 (shortly after implementation of ISO9000), Canada is required to have MSDS (Materials Data Safety Sheets) for chemicals such as this and those MSDS must be made available by the manufacturer somewhere for public viewing. It was also a requirement (in Ontario, anyhow) that ALL ingredients must be listed on the packaging. Now, is the US bound by a law similar to this (don't think so, cause I've seen stuff not labeled with all ingredients. Pity.)? I did stumble across an MSDS for an American ammonia, but my browser crashed while I was reading it and I can't find it again.

I'm pretty sure that American chemicals -- at least those for export, anyhow -- must have MSDS as well. Where can I find MSDS sheets online for American products? Is there a central location at all?

I'm not sure if they would list all the ingredients on them, but it's worth a shot.

Roan

 

[Roan Art]

Can't you just substitute ammonia by dumping fish food into a tank and letting it rot.

Sure, but it not only takes a lot longer but it's harder to predict/calculate your ammonia levels. How many clumps of rotting fish food does it take to get your tank water to 5 ppm?

It should start the process. If not take some water from a established tank and some media from an established tank too.

It's still going to take a bit to build up the bacteria colony.

My recipe, that I intend to follow from now on, is: Ammonia + Bio-Spira (assuming it's GOOD Bio Spira and that's why I'm not dumping fish in until the tests clear) = Cycled tank in 3 days max

It would probably cycle in 1 day, as they claim, however I would prefer two days of testing to make SURE everything was kosher.

Roan

 

[Roan Art]

Question:

If you do a fishy cycle, then the bacteria only develops to support the fish in the cycle, no? Everytime you add a fish or two, the bacteria has to expand to meet the needs of those fish and there's always a chance of a spike, large or small, while that happens?

Is there anyway to cultivate a particular size bacteria colony? Or predict just how many fish your cycle will support?

I ask this because a lot of on line fish shops have some sort of minimum order. Lots of 6 or a minimum $ amount and there's no way I'd want to drop 6 fish in all at once unless the tank could support it. Of course, the fish would be quarrantined, but moving all six fish at once would be easier than 1 or 2 at a time and it would be less stressful, I should think, for schooling fish.

Hrm?

Roan