how much ammonia do fish actually give off?

[quitters]

Can anybody tell me roughly how much ammonia 15 gold tetras (1 inch ea) would give off?

Im cycling my tank im putting in 4ppm ammonia a day and its completely gone the next day but im only 1 week into my cycle (seeded) and my nitrites are going up and up so i wanna cut back on my ammonia but not too much because i dont want a spike when i add all 15 tetras at once which i have no choice in doing.

thanks for any replies!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I would just add 1-2ppm ammonia til you are cycled. You'll be fine.

 

[europas_ice]

Where can I get ammonia like this to start the tank cycle?

 

[quitters]

ok yeah thats what i was thinking, thanks lonewolfblue u always so helpful

europas_ice - i got mine from a lab coz its illegal elsewhere in australia but your from america you should be able to get it at wal-mart or a big hardware store, along with guns and knifes and stuff but dont buy the guns or the knifes. crazy americans . . . jk

Make sure its not cloudy and it doesnt fizz or bubbl when you shake it! make sure it contains no detergents, perfumes or surfectants, very important! i learned the hard way.

 

[europas_ice]

Thanks!

So then how do you measure 4 ppm?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

You can get some at any grocery store, like Safeway. Just make sure it has no detergents or scents. If unsure, give it a shake before adding to the tank. If it bubbles or foams, you do not want to use it. At Safeway, there is a brand, it's made in Canada. It's called Clear Ammonia. That's what I used. It says on the bottle that there's no detergents or scents.

As for dosing, try a capful, wait 10-15 minutes, then test. If it's over 1-2ppm, then you know you need to use a little less, if not quite 1-2ppm, then a little more. If it's a bigger tank like my 55G, I think I used 3 or 4 capfuls. But just go a capful at a time til you get to the level you want.

You want the initial level at 4-5ppm. Once ammonia is starting to drop, then 1-2ppm til cycled is fine.

 

[europas_ice]

Thank you so much! That was exactly what I needed to know.

 

[Rondory]

I bought the "Ammonia Clear" brand and it had surfactants listed on the label. It also didn't fizz up when I shook it really hard. Look at every word on the bottle just to be sure and make sure you get Clear Ammonia and not Ammonia Clear that has the words reversed and contains soap. :?

 

[malkore]

Thanks!

So then how do you measure 4 ppm?

With an ammonia test kit. EVERY fishkeeper should have a Master test kit, so they can test:

pH
Kh
Gh
ammonia
nitrite


if you are keeping live plants, you should also have kits to test:
nitrate
phosphate


I agree, keep it dosed to 3-4ppm, until you see Nitrites with your test kit. then 2-3ppm of ammonia is plenty. That level is very high compared to what the fish will actually produce at normal stocking and no over feeding. That's the whole point...develop a colony of bacteria that exceeds yoru fishload. This way, when the cycle completes, you can do a big waterchange to reduce nitrates, and then add all your desired fish at once, who take the place of manually adding 3ppm of ammonia.