Impossible

[bootz]

ok i have been runnin my tank for 3 weeks with dry rock/sand but i just added ammonia this past saturday and my tank was at 3ppm yesterday and i dosed it back up to 4-5 when i tested today it was almost at 1 i know the cycle cannot be that fast any ideas?

 

[BeanPets]

When you say you added ammonia what exactly did you add?

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[bootz]

pure ammonia

 

[Gti_Leo]

you'll have to keep addign it it'll filter out through the rock. the best way to add ammonia is to add a raw shrimp, it'll keep addign ammonia as it decomposes

 

[Limpits Reef]

Pure amonia such as for the laundry? Are you serious?

 

[thincat]

I've never used ammonia to cycle a tank, but it works. Just keep the level at or around 4-6 ppm until you start to get a reading of Nitrites then stop the ammonia and just add a few flakes of fish food until you start getting Nitrates, When ammonia and nitrites go to 0 you are good to go.

 

[mr_X]

Pure amonia such as for the laundry? Are you serious?

yes. many people recommend this here. crazy huh.

 

[carey]

Lol that was my first thought too. Crazy. But it worked.

 

[tjm80]

I used a bottle of ammonia to cycle mine. I wanted to know exactly how much ammonia was going in. Cycled in about 2.5 - 3 weeks with LR.

 

[BeanPets]

Ya, that is crazy. I always did it the old fashion way by throwing in a raw shrimp.

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[mr_X]

well, ammonia is simply ammonia...so as long as it doesn't have soap or lemon scent or some stuff like that in it, it should be the same.

 

[OhNeil1969]

I'm a freshwater guy and I just cycled a 60 gallon tank with ammonia. It really does work and it's real easy in my opinion. Like mr X said, you really want an ammonia that doesn't have dyes, perfumes or surfactants. The rule of thumb is that if it foams when you shake the bottle it's not the right type of ammonia. I purchased my ammonia from Ace Hardware. It's the janitorial strength version.

 

[tjm80]

What's crazy about it? Ammonia is ammonia, what's the difference in ammonia from a dead fish vs ammonia from a bottle? It's all the same and will get the job done. My way didn't involve looking at a rotting shrimp in my living room!

 

[mr_X]

What's crazy about it? Ammonia is ammonia, what's the difference in ammonia from a dead fish vs ammonia from a bottle? It's all the same and will get the job done. My way didn't involve looking at a rotting shrimp in my living room!

what's crazy is putting things like store bought cleaning chemicals and vodka in tanks and not ruining them.

 

[tjm80]

mr x... come on now... you know fish like clean water and a good time.

 

[Gti_Leo]

what's crazy is putting things like store bought cleaning chemicals and vodka in tanks and not ruining them.

if it works and it does a top notch job why fght it. its like a human drinkign vodka, we don't die from it we just get a little buzzed, when y ou add a few drops to water thats like nothing, all its doign is killing of some bacteria and making your fish a little happy

 

[mr_X]

lol..i don't think it does that.
Melevsreef.com - Dosing Vodka to Lower Nitrate & Phosphate

 

[bootz]

the problem isnt the fact that i used pure ammonia the problem is i dont understand why it dropped so fast i had it at 4 ppm and it went down to .5ppm over night just cannot be possible.

 

[tjm80]

Sounds like what you should expect. What I did at this point was dose to about 2-3 ppm daily. Check your nitrites, they should be a royal purple color if you're using the API test kits.

But this is what you want... you want the ammonia to disappear. And quickly.

 

[thincat]

And all this time I thought it was the fish......"Drinking all the water"...for the buzz!!!LOL