Ammonia

[Sasha the breen]

i am deciding to mature my tank with the "no fish cycle" and it asks for ammonia (Pure) and im having trouble finding what products have it in? i was wondering if anyone who has had experience in the no fish cycle could help me by giving me some advice on what they did and how long it took them to mature their tank and ifits safer and better than the original way?

 

[st.cichlid]

get a bottle of ammonia i never did a cycle cause i have ammo-chips

 

[Sasha the breen]

but where would i get the ammonia ??? i am in england and ive heard you cant

 

[Bol]

From a grocery or drug store, most likely. Look in the cleaning product section. If that doesn't work, maybe you can find a chemistry supply shop?

The thing to look for is ammonia that contains no "surfactants". They are usually listed on the label, but one way to quickly test for them is to shake the bottle -- if it foams up when you shake it, it contains surfactants, and you don't want to use it.

Also, of course, you want to stay away from scented ammonias, ... but all of those I've seen also contain surfactants.

 

[DrakeRizzo]

Sasha,

If you are unable to get your hands on ammonia, you could try adding fish food to the water, over time the food will decompose and the by-product is ammonia. This method will take considerably longer but works just the same.

I hope this helps.

 

[G_Sharky]

Don't go to your LFS either they'll just make a fool outta you like they did to me when i try to ask them for ammonia and the fishless cycle. Like they said try a grocery or a hardware store, they might have it.

 

[Lateral Line]

I spoke to a few companies, one that sells Ammonia suitable for fishless cycling in the UK was Challs their "Max Ammonia" product is the stuff you want. I e-mailed them and they confirmed it is simply Ammonium Hydroxide in de-ionised water.

It is odd that lfs don't stock it, although I suppose if they did, nobody would buy their expensive "instant cycling wonder products" that don't work.

 

[Bol]

If LFS's stocked pura ammonia, they'd have to explain to customers why you need ammonia, ... and you also need stuff to remove ammonia.

 

[smileandnod]

In my experience, it's not very easy to get pure ammonia in the uk any more.
When I were a lad my mum used to use it for cleaning windows I think.

Ian.

 

[chunmak]

u don't need it just decloranate ur water and run the filter for about a week and u can add fish in 6 per week till ur tank is fully stocked thats wot i did and u might like to have a bttle of ammonia remover ready and a test kit for ammonia.

 

[cutechic]

u don't need it just decloranate ur water and run the filter for about a week and u can add fish in 6 per week till ur tank is fully stocked thats wot i did and u might like to have a bttle of ammonia remover ready and a test kit for ammonia.

Won't that cause an ammonia spike because the bioload can't handle all the fish waste and excess food

 

[short_term_memory_loss]

If you are really struggling finding ammo here in the u.k i personally would add a little food or even a piece of deadfish to get the ammonia going

 

[RYO]

if you know some 1 who keeps fish ask for some smeggy water from his filter clean up or your lfs