I think I screwed up.

[littlerob904]

So I started my cycle. Went down to a few stores in search of some surfactant free ammonia. Stop and Shop, no luck. Home depot, no luck. Price Rite - Hooray! I found a bottle of "Clear Ammonia" the ingredient list included only Ammonium Hydroxide. No surfactants, so I thought I was in business. I took it home, and added some to my tank. However, I made the mistake of adding way too much, 5 ppm instead of 0.5ppm. So, I did a water change 90% and got the level down to right about 0.5ppm (using the API master test kit) When I started draining my tank (using a python) I realized I forgot to kill the filter as It started sucking a little air. I shut it off, no big deal. But then I noticed some foaming on the top. Last time I checeked pure ammonia didn't foam. It wasn't much, only enough to cover maybe half of the water surface and only about 1/8 in thick. After I completed the water change, there was no more foam. I tried agitating the water with the python to make sure.

Now I'm scared. The bottle did not include surfactants in the ingredients, does it actually have them? Even if it did, after the water change was the small amount safe enough? If I'm able to cycle the tank and grow the bacteria is that a good indication that the fish won't be harmed by it when introduced?

 

[neilanh]

Are you sure it was trully foam and not just air bubbles?

Shake the bottle, does it foam up like a bottle of soap or other cleaners would? If you did get just ammonium hydroxide, you're all set.

 

[new2betas]

Are you sure it was trully foam and not just air bubbles?

Shake the bottle, does it foam up like a bottle of soap or other cleaners would? If you did get just ammonium hydroxide, you're all set.

That's what I was going to suggest also...sounds like it might just have been air bubbles from the filter creating splash.

 

[littlerob904]

Are you sure it was trully foam and not just air bubbles?

Shake the bottle, does it foam up like a bottle of soap or other cleaners would? If you did get just ammonium hydroxide, you're all set.

Upon shaking the bottle I did get bubbles. It was not a crazy amount, and it didn't sustain. But there was a noticeable "foam" at the top of the bottle.

I'm thinking because it was a cheap brand / bottle that their may have just been impurities causing it?

 

[jsoong]

If I'm able to cycle the tank and grow the bacteria is that a good indication that the fish won't be harmed by it when introduced?

Usually cheap ammonia don't have surfactants (it costs money!). And you can dose to 4 ppm in fishless (it works in lower levels, but will take forever!)

The foaming & bubbling is a bit worrisome. But if you shake up a bottle of water, there will be a few air bubbles that lasts for a few seconds. If your ammonia behaves just like water, then it should be OK.

Generally, bacteria is more sensitive to soaps than fish, so if you can establish a cycle, you *should* be OK. To be safe, if you truly suspect soap in the ammonia, you might be better off tearing down the tank & rinse everything & start over.

 

[littlerob904]

Usually cheap ammonia don't have surfactants (it costs money!). And you can dose to 4 ppm in fishless (it works in lower levels, but will take forever!)...

Hmm, according to the "fishless cycling for dummies" post that said 0.5ppm, and regurgitated the info for clarity.

I'm thinking I might just do another total water change and give the raw shrimp thing a try.

 

[meegosh]

I'm not sure why that says .5ppm. I would definitely dose higher or else you will be waiting a while. You can do the prawn method, I would throw it in a new-never used pantyhose so that when you go to pull it out you don't have shrimp pieces floating in your water.

 

[littlerob904]

I'm not sure why that says .5ppm. I would definitely dose higher or else you will be waiting a while. You can do the prawn method, I would throw it in a new-never used pantyhose so that when you go to pull it out you don't have shrimp pieces floating in your water.

I think i'm gonna take that route, would a media bag work? I have one lieing around, I figured I would stick the shrimp on there and throw it in the tank

 

[littlerob904]

Also, upon further investigation today the ammonia definitely is foaming and not just bubbling, it was "colorful" reflecting light like an oil or soap would.

 

[meegosh]

I think it would depend on how fine a mesh it is. My media bag wouldn't work, it would still foul up the water.

I'm not sure what you should do at this point. I'm not sure what the other chemicals in the ammonia do or how to get rid of them. You might have to disinfect the tank before you start again. Maybe someone else has some opinions?

 

[littlerob904]

Well, I finally found an Ace hardware in the next town over and picked up some surfactant free ammonia. I emptied the tank today, rinsed off the legos and gravel a bit and refilled the tank, I then ran the filter... emptied again, and refilled. Figured it was best to try and remove any and all of the soaps that had gotten left behind. I also removed the filter media (just some filter floss and filter pads at this point) and replaced with new stuff. I added the new ammonia and officially starting the new cycle today, hopefully this works! I'm getting real tired of looking at a fishless tank and explaining to everyone that comes over that I'm not crazy!