help- I Used Great Value Ammonia!

[ashleysbetta]

So I've been hoping to get a betta to get me back into fish keeping after, well, maybe a decade? Anyways, about 6-7 weeks ago I started cycling the tank with fish food. The fish food wasn't breaking down and I was getting impatient, so about 3 weeks in I bought Great Value Clear Ammonia from Walmart, which appeared to me according to the label and everything to be pure ammonia. I put some of it in there- no more than a capful for my 5.5 gal. Then I found out about the shake rule, and upon shaking it and finding out it bubbled like soap, I threw it out and never used it again.

Since then, I've done 20% water changes weekly and changed the filter media like I usually would. I figured it wouldn't be a huge problem after a couple of water changes- but now as I'm getting closer to the cycle being finished I'm rethinking this. Do I need to be worried?

Thanks in advance- any help would be super appreciated!

 

[ColdKoi]

I don’t know at what point one would consider it good or bad, But I’d surely think by now the amount of surfactant residue in the tank is minimal if you’ve been doing 20% water changes regularly.

In the future, be aware if a product says “surfactant” in its ingredients, it’s not something to use in the aquarium. Surfactant is basically soap

Maybe someone else that has had the same issue may chime in, but if you haven’t crashed the cycle, I’d think the water quality isn’t bad enough to worry about

 

[Aiken Drum]

A few 20% water changes might not be enough. I would at least change all the water, give everything a rinse in dechlorinated water to preserve the beneficial bacteria you have established, run some carbon in the filter.

Dilution, dilution, dilution.

You could be ok, but do want to risk any fish you introduce.

Out of interest did the ammonia crash your cycle?