Hi, I have begun cycling my tank with Shoprite clear ammonia, the label just says ammonium hydroxide, and i believed this to be the correct stuff. I have added about 30ml to my 75 gallon tank so far. I have recently read that if the bottle bubbles when shaken, it is bad to use. Well, sure enough it bubbles and foams when shaken. What can I do to remedy this? I have only added a very small amount to a 75g tank so far, so I really hope I dont need to tear down and scrub everything.
ammonia for cycling
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absolutangel04
Daphnia are People Too.
How much have you added? Honestly, I would probably drain the tank and rinse everything.
Hey! I've added no more than 30 ml. I'm hoping a 75 percent water change would be enough. I'll go to ace hardware and get the right stuff. Just hoping I don't need to scrub everything or something like that. 30 mL of ammonia with only a very small percent of detergent or surfactant that would cause the bubbles in a 75g tanks would be a VERY small ppm.
wildroseofky
Aquarium Advice Addict
Do the bubble immediately go away? Any liquid you shake will get some bubbles. If a froth forms and takes a minute to dissolve, than it has detergent in it. As long as it doesn't say it has sufficants(spelling?) it should be alright. I couldn't find any pure ammonia so I used smelling salts. The stuff you hold under a persons nose when they faint. It had ammonia and alcohol listed but it never caused any problems in my tank.
absolutangel04
Daphnia are People Too.
Yeah, that can happen. I have heard of it before. Finding pure ammonia can be a headache.
Well, it is your tank. Since you didn't add too much, you might be fine to just keep going. Personally, I would still drain it and rinse as much as possible to avoid any potential issues. I probably wouldn't tear it all apart and scrub it, but I would do my best to rinse stuff. I tend to agree that it won't be enough to hurt much, but better safe than sorry I suppose. I assume that you don't see any of the froth when you add water to the tank right now. right?
No froth in the tank. Only in the bottle when I shake it. The tank seems fine, although even though the ammonia levels seem to drop from day to day, I have yet to see any nitrites/ates. Anyway, I think I'll do a 75 percent water change now and then cycle again. If the tank cycles and can have the bacteria thrive enough, I'm sure it will be OK for fish. I'll likely do another large water change before adding the fish too.
absolutangel04
Daphnia are People Too.
Good luck!
threnjen
Aquarium Advice Addict
I would do what you already suggested (super big water change), and then maybe also add some carbon in the filter somewhere to pick up any surfactants that you missed. I think with that it will be fine if you do those things.
enrgizerbunny
Aquarium Advice Addict
Ace hardware sells the janitorial strength pure ammonia. It's good stuff.
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