Ammonia Questions?

[peachlids]

from what i understand ammonia is bad?
why are people looking for ammonia to add?

maybe this sounds stupid or maybe im just about to answer my own question, is it due to water differences in locations and areas?

 

[TrainRek77]

The people that want ammonia to add are going to use it to do a fishless cycle. They don't want to put fish in a tank that hasn't established a good biological filter to filter the ammonia created by fish waste. What they do is add ammonia to the tank, with no fish in the tank, so the bacteria in the filter can get started. This reduces fish death and disease. It also results in an overall healthier tank. Adding the bacteria is like adding fish, in that it creates the ammonia levels to spike. When they are done with a fishless cycle they can go buy all the fish they want to stock and put them in all at once. Instead of adding a few at a time over a long period.
Check out these links. They'll help you a whole lot.
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=175355
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/

 

[peachlids]

oh i seeeee, i wish i had known about cycling my tank before i set it up, now i have a full 75g tank that seems to be pretty balanced, i just need to get the water clearer, which i think is just due to a lack of turn overs per hour, ive been running with the same media in my filters for atleast 4 months now though, and ammonia is never a problem of having in my tanks, its always too high, therefore i use tons of aeration to reduce it. i honestly cant believe most of my fish lived through the ammonia spike.

but thanks for clearing that up i was talking to my dad when i visited him and that was the conclusion we came up with so you just verified it.

and is it bad that my fish cichlids seem to enjoy the gravel more than the sand :[