I have this bottle of ammonia...is it pure?

[ManannanMacLir]

I was about to do some fishless cycling of my freshwater tank. I have my mother's store bought bottle of ammonia, but I'm wondering if the ingredients are safe for my tank.

The ingredients are as follows:

Soft Water
Ammonium Hydroxide
Quality Control Agents

Contains no phosphorus

Would this be considered pure ammonia? The guy I talked to said the soft water should not be a problem. But I'm wondering if it would be appropriate.

 

[rich311k]

Give it a good shake. If you don't get any bubbles, you are probably good to go.

 

[JRagg]

The "quality control agents" are what I would be worried about. Any scents or other additives will mess up the tank.

If you have an ACE hardware nearby I would go pick up their stuff. It is definitely pure ammonia, and costs something like $2.50 for the smallest bottle (more than you could possibly ever need). I think the ACE stuff actually says "Pure Ammonium Hydroxide" on the bottle. I and others have used it with success.

 

[MattAquaBio]

Yeah, those quality control agents sound tricky. Like preservatives in food lol.
If you shake it and still arent sure just invest the 2.50, its better in the long run than killing fish and wasting weeks recycling right?
good luck.

 

[UTcolorchangn]

I second the recommendation of the ACE Hardware brand ammonia. I have used it successfully in the past.

I also wonder what the "quality control" agents are. They might be harmless, I don't know. Do you know what brand it is?

If it were me, I'd see if there were an ACE around you and give that a shot. The ammonia is pretty cheap.

 

[src]

As I learned (the hard way), if it lists ANYTHING other than ammonia and water, skip it.

Oh, and when they are talking about bubbles, they don't mean piles of soap suds, they mean any bubbles in the liquid at all. If, after shaking it, the contents have any bubbles, even for a second, then don't use it.

 

[Caincando1]

I'm going to pick up a bottle tonight. Anyone know approximatly how much amonia per gallon to get started?

 

[rich311k]

One of our mods, czcz, has a calculator right on his website.

 

[JRagg]

See, that calculator (or the manual calc below it) gives me about 10x what I used.

Use roughly 1.5 mL of the ACE hardware stuff per 10 gallons. That will give you between 4 and 5 ppm.

 

[rich311k]

No it doesnt. It gave 1.5 ml per ten gallons. You probably didn't put in the 10 in the % box.

 

[JRagg]

Well I'm officially a moron, but I've never debated that fact. I tried to do the hand calc because I couldn't figure out that I needed to fill in ALL of the fields.

At least crunching the numbers gives what I learned through trial and (much) error.

 

[Caincando1]

So it looks like I'll add 5.25ml for my 35hex. Do tanks actually hold as many gallons as they say they do?

 

[joannde]

No, they don't. Most tank manufactures measure from the OUTSIDE wall of the glass instead of the inside. Just use less than suggested, let it run for an hour or so and then test to see if you need to add more

 

[ManannanMacLir]

Yes, after I shook the bottle, there were a few bubbles, so I'm not going to use it. It is the "Everyday Living" brand of ammonia. After consulting with a guy at a local fish store, I've decided to go a different route, and put a few zebra danios in my 55 gallon tank, along with a live bacteria culture. I'm going to monitor the ammonia levels and do water changes as necessary. The guy at the local fish store recommended doing this because it is a more "natural" way of adding ammonia to the tank. Anyway, thanks for the advice.

 

[src]

Unless the "live bacteria culture" is Bio-Spira, I wouldn't try to cycle with fish.

 

[JRagg]

As SRC said, unless it is Bio-Spira the guy at your LFS is (Insert insult here). Ammonia is ammonia. Doesn't matter where it comes from, it does the same thing. And with a bottle of ammonia, you don't get left with a few fish that you don't want at the end.

I've done the fishless route with the ACE ammonia, and it worked very well.

 

[tropicfishman]

thats the kind I've always heard about being used in fishless cycles, good luck with it

 

[joannde]

If you don't want to dose ammonia the rotting shrimp method works equally well. Its ugly but you can hide it behind a decoration. And it smells, but only if you put your nose to the tank. The best part is that you don't have to remember to dose anything and you know its fish safe. I'd only trust shrimp or Bio-Spira (but even Bio-Spira is a risk since it can die if not kept cold the entire time - including during shipping).

My suggestion - use a shrimp !

 

[ManannanMacLir]

Oops...I guess I'll have to get myself some Bio-Spira tomorrow. But are you guys sure that it is the only product that works? Would it be a sure bet to get it from a Petsmart, or do you recommend buying it at an independent fish store?

 

[rich311k]

You may to call around to find it. Not everyone carries it.