Ammonia Question

[Desdra]

I am currently doing the "Fishless Cycle" on a small 5.5 gal tank. The cycle seems to be going pretty good. I had the ammonia spike to 6ppm or higher and now the Nitrite and Nitrate are spiking and the ammonia is 0ppm now. So it seems to be going good. But my question is.... I believe the ammonia I used was not 100% pure. I realized tonight that it if I shake it it will bubble/foam a bit. It is clear, it looks like water and it doesn't seem to have any perfume smell. How will this effect the water? Will I have to start the cycle over again with proper ammonia or will it be ok?

 

[heresmike]

Foaming ammonia is usually not a good sign. Where did you get it? Are there ingredients listed on the label?

 

[Phantom Thief]

How much does it foam? I think it would be normal for a few bubbles, but more than that and you have trouble.

P.T.

 

[Desdra]

Well ... I got it from Wal-Mart. It doesn't list any ingredients, It just says Household Ammonia. If I put some in a glass and shake it really good I will get about a 1/4 of an inch, maybe a little less of foam. I am guessing there is a little of something else in it.

 

[Desdra]

I went hunting for some good ammonia today. I was starting to wonder if I would find any. Most places I checked no longer carried it. I finally found some at a hardware store. On the bottle is says contains no phosphates or fragrances. If I put some in a glass and shake it really good. There were a couple of air bubbles that popped once I stopped shaking it but that's it. So, now that I have found some good ammonia I am in the process of cleaning my tank out and starting the cycle all over again.

On my quest today to find ammonia, after I tried a few stores with no success I decided to talk to my local pet store. I thought maybe if they didn't have any they might be able to point me in the right direction. When I asked them they looked at me and my husband like we have two heads. She said No, you don't want to put ammonia in your tank, We sell stuff to take ammonia out. I explained we know you don't want ammonia in the tank with fish, but we were getting it ready to get fish. I would try to explain the process but could hardly get 5 words out before she would cut in. Very rude person. She suggested that we read more about it. I think I might print off some stuff about it and take it into her so she could read more about it since she wouldn't let us talk.
After that we decided to go to the other pet shop in our area to see what they said. The woman there had not heard of using ammonia but knew of doing the cycle using fish food. She was interested in reading more on it and we said we would take in some info for her to look at and told her to go to google as well too look for info.

Totally different reactions. I was shocked at the reaction of the first store.

Well, I am off to go clean my tank out. Check ya later

 

[heresmike]

... I decided to talk to my local pet store. I thought maybe if they didn't have any they might be able to point me in the right direction. When I asked them they looked at me and my husband like we have two heads. She said No, you don't want to put ammonia in your tank, We sell stuff to take ammonia out....

Isn't is sad that there are people who work in fish stores don't know about fishless cycling? I've heard other stories like yours, but thankfully the stores that I shop at advocate the fishless cycle. When you are congratulated by fish store workers for doing the fishless cycle, you know you've found a good store to shop at.

 

[Desdra]

It didn't really surprise me that pet stores in my area don't know about the fishless cycle. We are in a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada. Our area seems to take a few years to catch up on what the rest of the world is doing. But what really surprised me was the fact she wouldn't even let us explain the fishless cycle. I was happy that the other store in our area was interested in learning about it and didn't pass off what we were saying.

 

[_]im]

Hi I had a question concerning ammonia.

I have had my tank set up for 5 days, with a few hardy fish set in there and am waiting for ammonia levels to peak. I have bought a tester kit for it and so far nothing, not even .5ppm. Could my tester be faulty or should I wait longer? I also have a natural plant in there, that could be slowing the rate of ammonia in the water?

By the way I'm from a small town in Nova Scotia, annapollis valley!

 

[clutterydrawer]

Hi I had a question concerning ammonia.

I have had my tank set up for 5 days, with a few hardy fish set in there and am waiting for ammonia levels to peak. I have bought a tester kit for it and so far nothing, not even .5ppm. Could my tester be faulty or should I wait longer? I also have a natural plant in there, that could be slowing the rate of ammonia in the water?

By the way I'm from a small town in Nova Scotia, annapollis valley!

what size tank, and which fish?

 

[_]im]

10gallon and I havea few bottom feeders and an algae eater with 4 mollies, but I'm soon moving them to an established tank, as I dont think its a good idea to have them in that new tank.

Any ideas?

 

[clutterydrawer]

I dunno then. I thought maybe ti was a huge tank with only a couple of small fish so the ammonia concentration would be less. have you been using any ammonia reducing products? these can cause faulty test readings. did you "seed" your tank with bacteria from an established tank?

 

[Desdra]

By the way I'm from a small town in Nova Scotia, annapollis valley!

Oh wow ... So am I. Guess the world isn't so big B) What town are you in?

 

[_]im]

Kentville, yourself?

 

[_]im]

And to answer the question, no I havent been using any ammonia reducing products, I am getting a few objects from an established tank tomorrow for promotion of beneficial bacteria, but so far thats about it.

 

[Desdra]

Kentville, yourself?

Very small world .... Me too