concerns i have with fishless cycling

[gzeiger]

That's the same thing in fish urine, which is ultimately what we're worried about here. Plenty of bacteria exist in any environment to break it down.

Please don't pee in your fish tank.

 

[krap101]

clear ammonia is sold at wal mart for around 1$ so... yeah

and you can check it by shaking the bottle. It should look basically like water (no bubbles)

 

[HooKooDooKu]

clear ammonia is sold at wal mart for around 1$ so... yeah

and you can check it by shaking the bottle. It should look basically like water (no bubbles)

From the anecdotal reports I've read, ammonia you're likely to find at wal mart is going to have suficants or other additives you don't want in your tank.

However, ACE Hardware store brand ammonia lists nothing but ammonia as the ingredients and has been the brand of ammonia that has been getting recommend. If you don't have an ACE Hardware near you, I've heard (but not verified) that Piggily Wiggily store brand ammonia is also free of extra ingrediants.

 

[gzeiger]

I've also looked at Walmart and didn't find any surfactant-free stuff, even when it was labeled "clear ammonia." I have the Piggly Wiggly brand in front of me though, and it lists only "soft water, ammonia" as ingredients.

 

[krap101]

Hmm, the one I have has softened water, ammonia and ?chelating agent?.

 

[krap101]

I was reading around, and I just so happened to have the old and the new versions of the Wal Mart brand ammonia around. It would seem that they changed their "pure ammonia" to have surfactants instead of chelating agents, because I've cycled a few tanks with the old ammonia and it worked fine.