Freshwater cycling
- Thread starter Rbishop
- Start date
Household ammonia is an aqueous solution of ammonium hydroxide, not ammonium chloride.
My mistake. The stuff at Dr foster was recommended on here and was ammonium chloride so I assumed it was exactly the same that we buy at a local store. Thanks for the correction =)
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Thank you all for clairifing this is a big help.
Jim
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Jim
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The ammonium chloride (DrTim's) in your link is in liquid form. It has been formulated such that dosing one drop per gallon should give a level of 2 ppm. This makes it very simple and easy to use. However, over time it seems to lose its potency so it is best to test ammonia levels shortly after you dose it to get a handle on the strength at that time.
You can purchase ammonium chloride in solid form. But be sure you know what you are doing when dosing it before doing so. Counting drops is much simpler than measuring small amounts of dry weights.
The other difference between the hydroxide and the chloride is in terms of their pH. The former is very basic while the latter is fairly acid.
After over a decade of using the hydroxide, I switched over to the chloride last year (using DrTim's). I have also use his bottled nitrifying bacteria on occasion with good results.
You can purchase ammonium chloride in solid form. But be sure you know what you are doing when dosing it before doing so. Counting drops is much simpler than measuring small amounts of dry weights.
The other difference between the hydroxide and the chloride is in terms of their pH. The former is very basic while the latter is fairly acid.
After over a decade of using the hydroxide, I switched over to the chloride last year (using DrTim's). I have also use his bottled nitrifying bacteria on occasion with good results.
Hi all, and apologies for just jumping in with this but am a long time newbie to fish keeping (had a tank for years but only now starting to pay attention and learn whats actually going on in there!!!!!) and need some advice.
I have found myself in an impromptu fish-in cycle in a tank that's seriously overstocked for cycling (long story!!) and after the filter seemingly crashed from going to plan and showing reasonable (0.25 to 0.5ppm at most) levels of ammo and nitrite and 5-10ppm nitrate before I carried out PWC on tuesday evening to yesterday showing 1.0 ppm ammo and zero nitrite and nitrate, I have purchased some Tetra Safestart (which i beleive is the same as Dr Tims one and only, which is impossible to find in the UK it seems!!!) and after testing this evening I will be dosing my tank unless anyone has any better suggestions???
Thanks.
I have found myself in an impromptu fish-in cycle in a tank that's seriously overstocked for cycling (long story!!) and after the filter seemingly crashed from going to plan and showing reasonable (0.25 to 0.5ppm at most) levels of ammo and nitrite and 5-10ppm nitrate before I carried out PWC on tuesday evening to yesterday showing 1.0 ppm ammo and zero nitrite and nitrate, I have purchased some Tetra Safestart (which i beleive is the same as Dr Tims one and only, which is impossible to find in the UK it seems!!!) and after testing this evening I will be dosing my tank unless anyone has any better suggestions???
Thanks.
Sorry, I probably wasn't clear. I understand that levels should remain at zero in a stable tank but am stuck in this fish-in cycle!
I also understand that any level of ammo or nitrite is harmful so have been trying to perform pwc's as soon as levels register at .25ppm. This hasn't always been possible as am only able to test and do maintenance in evenings and so on occasion levels have crept up to .5ppm at time of test, I was simply trying to point out that levels hadn't spiked so dramatically so as to overload the filter.
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I also understand that any level of ammo or nitrite is harmful so have been trying to perform pwc's as soon as levels register at .25ppm. This hasn't always been possible as am only able to test and do maintenance in evenings and so on occasion levels have crept up to .5ppm at time of test, I was simply trying to point out that levels hadn't spiked so dramatically so as to overload the filter.
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Contrary to what Rbishop posted, .25 to .50 ppm of Total ammonia may or may not be a problem during a fish-in cycle. Whether it is or not depends on the temperature and pH of your tank. Total ammonia consists of NH3 (the toxic form) and NH4+ (the way way less harmful kind). Total ammonia shifts between these two forms depending on the tem. and pH of the water. The higher these two measures, the greater the percent of the total ammonia that will be in the toxic NH3 form.
You can see charts for determining how much of the ammonia in a tank may be in the form of NH3 here. Pleas note that the author of the tables considers .03 ppm of NH3 to be the point at which problems occur but the Merck Veterinary manual places this at .05 ppm.
http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/AmmoniaTox.html
Tetras SafeStart is the old Bio-Spira, improved. Both result from the work of Dr. Hovanec. You may be able to find Dr. Tim's One and Only in the UK at http://www.marineaquatics.co.uk/Water-Treatments
The biggest advantage to using the effective bacterial starters is they will contain both ammonia and nitrite oxidizers. The means you should not see a nitrite spike of any meaningful amount.
You can see charts for determining how much of the ammonia in a tank may be in the form of NH3 here. Pleas note that the author of the tables considers .03 ppm of NH3 to be the point at which problems occur but the Merck Veterinary manual places this at .05 ppm.
http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/AmmoniaTox.html
Tetras SafeStart is the old Bio-Spira, improved. Both result from the work of Dr. Hovanec. You may be able to find Dr. Tim's One and Only in the UK at http://www.marineaquatics.co.uk/Water-Treatments
The biggest advantage to using the effective bacterial starters is they will contain both ammonia and nitrite oxidizers. The means you should not see a nitrite spike of any meaningful amount.
