Where to find the 100% pure ammonia?

[critter905]

Was going to start my cycle with the shrimp but have changed my mind.
I want to add the 100% pure ammonia instead. Is there someplace local that I could pick this up at? Wal-mart, Lowes, Home Depot, etc....?????
Thanks for your inputs.

 

[Menagerie]

You need to look around. Some places carry it and some don't :? Sorry, but this one seems to take some foot work. Some members can find 100% ammonia at Walmart and two states over, Walmart doesn't carry 100% ammonia

 

[austinsdad]

Help me learn something. Why would pure ammonia be better than cyling with shrimp or rock?

Believe me. I'm not trying to be funny. Just wonderin'.

 

[Menagerie]

Help me learn something. Why would pure ammonia be better than cyling with shrimp or rock?

Shrimp smells.

Rock?? (that must me one special rock)

 

[austinsdad]

You know what? I just realized I was in the FW forum.

Just when I was about to go into questioning why you didn't know anything about live rock with die offs... I looked at the forum I was in and realized that I was about say something else wrong.

 

[greenfish]

I found my pure ammonia at Longs Drugs. I don't think they have any of those in Texas but you might want to hit up similar discount/drug stores.

 

[Nippyfish]

I searched everywhere for ammonia. Home Depot gave me some excuse for not having it that had something to do with terrorism. I called my hardware store (small local one) and they said they carry it but were out. I ended up getting it at K-mart.

So, I guess you could try calling your local hardward store and if that's a no-go try K-Mart. It worked for me. (Massachusetts) :?

 

[TankGirl]

The reason pure ammonia is better than using a form of decaying matter (shrimp, fish food, live rock, etc.) is that you can control precisely how much ammonia is dosed every day, trying to mimic a full fish load. When you toss a shrimp in there you have no idea how much ammonia you are generating, and there is less control. We are all about control, dontcha know... 5ppm per day and you can better gauge when the cycle will be done.

 

[austinsdad]

That's good info TG. I'd guess there is a formula somewhere that can determine how much ammonia to work with considering the full fish load - at whatever you determine it would be? Am I trying to over simplify this? I have a tendency to do that.

 

[TankGirl]

The amount of ammonia it takes to reach 5ppm on your test kit is the amount you use throughout the duration of the cycle, on a daily basis. Some people cut back to 3ppm once you start showing nitrite, but once you get bacteria growing they consume the ammonia and it is hard to measure it in the tank, so you have to know how much ammonia when you first get started, and just keep adding that amount. You are giving the tank a "dose" of ammonia every day like medicine.