Where do you get ammonia?

[oo7genie]

You're not just looking for scents or colors. You need to check for surfactants.

Real "hardware" stores like Ace & True Value will usually have pure ammonia without surfactants. I've heard Walmart even has pure ammonia, but they've always been out of it when I thought to check the labels there.

"Home Improvement" stores like Home Depot and Lowes usually carry the smelly/soapy stuff.

If the only ingredient listed is ammonium hydroxide, it should be the right stuff.

If you don't have any fish in the tank, you don't need to do a water change until the cycle is complete, unless you accidentally dose the ammonia up too high (overdosing ammonia can stall the cycling process). It can however be beneficial to do a few W/C's when the nitrAte starts rising, so that it's not at an insane level by the time you plan to put the fish in, causing you to scramble to do a ton of changes at the last minute.

 

[SubRosa]

If you have an instant cold pack, you can cut it open and use the little white beads inside. They're ammonium nitrate, which will provide a source of ammonia. However at the end of the cycle a near 100% change (which is always a good idea) becomes more important since nitrate will be much higher.

 

[nerdyrcdriver]

No fish in the tank. Hopefully there are some pics below of the labels. they are blury but should be able to read.

I will be looking at places I can easily get to on my bike. My parents both work and I dont have a job so my parents wont let me get a car.

Sent from my LG-LS840 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[oo7genie]

That ammonia looks like it should be fine.

 

[nerdyrcdriver]

It gets really bubbly like soap if it gets shaken. But I never found anything proving that it had anything special to make it do that. When I washed out the little yogurt cup I used to dose the tank with, it did bubble like soap but it didnt make it slippery or anything like soap would. Plus I think that our faucet just makes anything bubble like that. Curious how it bubbles when shaken.

Walgreens didnt have any and the non chain dollar store had some but it bubbled as well. I will just do a second decent size water change/ gravel cleaning (to get the fish food I put in, out) to be on the safe side. If I notice that fish are stressed or something, I will move them to the 10g and get any possible stuff left behind after the two big water changes out. I think that the bubbles are forming from the plastic bottle being textured.