Ammonia, Hard to Find -- Poss Solution?

Ok...I just read the answer......That dosent sound easy.
Click to expand...
It actually is easy and has several very distinct advantages over traditional fishy cycling. There are very few pitfalls to watch for, no emergencies and you have the ability to prepare a tank for full bio-load all at once so full stocking can be achieved much faster with far less risk to your fish.

For more detail read this:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64301

Dave
 
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Finding the right ammonia

Be careful when buying what you think is the right ammonia. As of now 2006 the manufacturers of the ammonia that we think is the right stuff, is most likely not the right stuff. Mfgrs. are not required to put the ingredients on the bottle because they are far below the legal limits to do so. We are looking for the low Consentration OF ammonia that is diluted with water, appears clear, no suds when shaken, no perfume when smelled (look out ) may be hazardous to your breath, does not contain surfactants, and may contain chelating agents. What I have described is hard to find. If you find a bottle of ammonia that you think is the right stuff, before you purchase, call the number on the bottle and ask them what is in it. Most of the time it is not the right stuff. Some bottles list the ingredients but from my experience it is not the right stuff either. I think we are going to find out that the right ammonia is getting harder and harder to find. A lot of people are experiencing this already. Most of the articles that I have read are outdated and the ammonia was readily available at that time. Today is a different story.
I have read some information from a hobbyist in the UK. He is saying that a substitute for ammonia is a product called Waterlife Boimature, Brand and product respectively. This is used for a fishless cycling, in other words food for the bacteria...nitrogen based. I don't know the common name for this stuff but I would think that something like that is available in the US. To read about this product do a search on Waterlife Biomature. Has anyone got any suggestions about this? Thoughts ??? Let us all know.. Get back and reply Thanks... Beretta
 
IGA carries their own brand. the Bottle just says Clear Ammonia. They have 2 types, one is sudsing the other non-sudsing. It is packaged by IGA, no other distributor mentioned. No other ingredient is mentioned anywhere on the bottle.
 
Just to let you guys know that I found a local Smart & Final that carries clear ammonia. 1 gallon bottles for $2.89 each. I'm Located in San Francisco, CA

http://www.smartandfinal.com/locations.aspx

FYI, just to make sure, I shook the hell out of it... No Bubbles!

See pics below.

IMG_2295.JPG IMG_2298.JPG IMG_2299.JPG
 
Geez, with all the worries of the wrong kind of ammonia, extra additives, etc. I think I'll just get snails to keep my empty tanks cycled. I was going to try to buy ammonia for fishless cycling, but after reading this thread, it just sounds too scary. For fishless cycling, I'll just use some rotten fish food. Maybe that and some trimmings from when I prune my plants.
 
Quick word of warning!!!

Beretta is right on ammonia packaging changing. I originaly didn't finish reading this entire post. After reading about daveedka success at getting the right ammonia at Wal-Mart I was really glad because there is one 3 blocks from where I live. So I stopped reading and went and picked up some ammonia and the bottle looked nearly identical to the picture daveeda posted, same title and brand. A couple minutes before I used it in my tank, I happened to chance across another thread where someone used ammonia with surfactants by mistake and had to clean everything. My bottle also contained surfactants, so just a warning even if someone else it the past used the same brand from the same scource make sure you double check! I almost learned it the hard way. I'm still not certain if Wal-Mart carries the good ammonia, I'll have to go back and look.
 
adding that kind of ammoina is very bad... it is most likely ammoinium chloride... very nasty stuff...
if you want a fishless cycle, why not tryputting a little fish food in the water and let it rot. that makes plenty of ammoina for the beneficial bacteria to grow on let me tell you
 
I just tried to get some at the local Brooks Pharmacy. They have two different bottles. One is clear looking and one is yellowish. The yellowish one has fragrence, sufficants and something like "quality control agents" (or something similar) and the clear one only says ammonia and "quality control agent".... no fragrence or sufficants. I didn't get any but really need to get a tank started that I filled just an hour ago. Anyone know what this term means? I did shake it and it did not foam.
 
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I can't belive the amount of argument surrounding fishless cycling lately. I find it to be very clear cut, easy, and practically impossible to mess up. Its hard to change peoples opinions on such polarized subjects, but i feel the need to butt in. :)

First off. Ammonium chloride is a better than liquid ammonia (ammonium hydroxide). It doesn't cause PH fluxuations. But, you have to mix it yourself to appropriate concentrations. Maybe thats what you mean by a "nasty" chemical. I have yet to find any easy to find product that contains only ammonium chloride.

Quality control agents is probably water to adjust concentration after reacting.

I have cycled about 6 tanks with clear ammonia. Selecting is easy. Pick up the bottle look at it. If it is not clear put it back. Shake it. If there are ANY bubbles left after 5 seconds put it back. Simple

I have simplified the actual process down to 2 easy steps.

1: Once a day measure ammonia (or use an ammonia alert badge).
2: after measuring, bring the readable ammonia up to 3-5ppm (toxic on the ammo.alert). For me it is 2 eyedroppers 3/4 full. It might vary slightly for you.

It takes all of 15-20 seconds to do every day (with the ammo alert badge).

I have very soft water and the ph fluxuates wildly in a 24 hour period but I always get a stable cycle within 5-6 days (for 10g with a filter seed) or less than 14 days without a filter seed.

The best i can calculate, this should give you alot more than a full bioload worth of biofilter.
 
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