I have fishless cycled with ammonia while live plants were in the tank with no problems, and i'm currently doing it again with live plants as we speak. My plants are all low light plants though, i don't know how high light plants respond. If you are using plants it's important that you use your testing kits to get the ammonia level high enough, because the plants will absorb some of the ammonia and nitrite (and of course the nitrate) directly.
At least in my part of the world, it's easy to find ammonia. Just look at a hardware store, Wal-mart, grocery store, drug store, etc in the cleaning aisle. The pure ammonia is usually on the bottom shelf, often a store brand, and should be extremely cheap. My grocery store sells "clear" ammonia (the kind you want) as well as "lemon" and "detergent" ammonia, which are the kinds you don't want. Just make sure to read the label, and if in doubt, go to another store until you are sure that what you have is pure ammonia.
At least in my part of the world, it's easy to find ammonia. Just look at a hardware store, Wal-mart, grocery store, drug store, etc in the cleaning aisle. The pure ammonia is usually on the bottom shelf, often a store brand, and should be extremely cheap. My grocery store sells "clear" ammonia (the kind you want) as well as "lemon" and "detergent" ammonia, which are the kinds you don't want. Just make sure to read the label, and if in doubt, go to another store until you are sure that what you have is pure ammonia.
