Ammonia for Fishless Cycling

cbatusf

cbatusf

AC Members
Dec 17, 2006
61
0
0
40
Tampa, FL
www.myspace.com
I found the article "Sorting out Ammonia" in the articles section and read that the Great Value Ammonia from Walmart can be used for fish cycling. In the ingredients listed on the label, it reads, "Ammonium Hydroxide and Surfactant". The "Sorting out Ammonia" article also reads, "Make sure you do not use ammonia with surfactants or cleansers in it as it will harm your fish!" So, is the Great Value Ammonia from Walmart that is recommended by that same article still ok to use?

Thanks!
~Courtney
 
You do want to avoid any surfactants if possible. I believe you can get janitorial strength ammonia at some hardware stores, drugs stores and grocery stores. If you shake it and it bubbles, most will tell you to avoid it.
 
Surfactants in my ammonia were a terribly nasty problem. I would never use anything but Ace Hardware Janitorial Strength after my episode. Left in there long enough, it sinks out of the water column and turns to goop that coats everything in a nice, invisible, slick layer, so that even though you think you've scrubbed everything with salt and incredibly hot water, you miss a spot around a screw, and pour the water in thinking you're good, and boom... 4" of foam bubbles all over again.
 
Now you guys have me worried about the surfactants! I went to two of the hardware stores in my area and the only ammonia they carry also have surfactants. I went to Ace Hardware's website, and there isn't one located in my area.

I'm upgrading my 10 gallon aquarium to a 30 gallon aquarium. I'm using my filter media, plants, driftwood, and dangling gravel in pantyhose to help jump start the cycle in the new aquarium, so is there anything else I can do to get ammonia for a fishless cycle? I thought I read somewhere that you can put a shrimp in pantyhose as a source of ammonia, or did I totally just make that up? lol!
 
cbatusf said:
Now you guys have me worried about the surfactants! I went to two of the hardware stores in my area and the only ammonia they carry also have surfactants. I went to Ace Hardware's website, and there isn't one located in my area.
Click to expand...

If you can get access to a chemistry lab, say thru a high school or community college, you could always ask them for a small bottle of ammonium hydroxide. The reagent grade is going to be as purer than anything you can buy. It could, depending on what types they have available, be much stronger as well. Thus a small bottle would last forever......but you would also need to use care in using the solution as concentrated ammonium hydroxide solutions can be really dangerous to handle of you do not know what you are doing (ie safety glasses, gloves, etc). However, I do know you can reagent grade ammonium hydroxide in concentrations from about 10% to upwards of 70%. The 10% solutions are basically the same strength as household cleaners. The 70%+ solutions are the ones that really required careful handling.


John
 
If I am upgrading to a larger tank, I carry over everything to include fish and the water on day 1. In the mean time I will have added the new filter I intend to use. I will add half of the missing volume of water on day 2. Wait 3 days and top off on the 4th day. Wait a week and then do a WC but not filters, just remove the old filters. I have been using this method and had no problems at all. This far different than a new set up this only for an upgrade.
 
With the media you are transferring, you could just stock very slowly and not need the ammonia..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom