Kitty Kat - the ammonia came from the pet store I got the tank from it came highly recommended by the shop and they do free water tests if u take a sample of the water to them. They have said it is fine and safe to use. Any input is welcome if you have any suggestions on what I can do to make the tank ready etc.
Hmm, can you elaborate? I have never heard of LFS selling ammonia, I would imagine that it would have been some sort of "bacteria in a bottle" at an extortionate price? Unfortunately, practical evidence shows that they do not work. I hope you will not mind if we try to verify that you really did cycle before you get fish because if you did not, you will have a lot of work ahead of you..
So, a standard fish-less cycle consists of setting up the tank with dechlorinated water, then dosing ammonia to 3-5 ppm. Once it reaches 0 ppm, we redose again and so on. When we notice that ammonia and nitrite are both processing from 3-5 ppm down to 0 ppm in 24 hours, we start testing at 12 hour intervals. Once both are processed in 12 hours, we keep dosing at 24 hour intervals for 7 days, to make sure that the ammonia really is processed consistently. Throughout the whole process, one can expect to dose ammonia at least 10, and more like 15-20 times. It takes about 4-8 weeks for the bacteria to establish.
What often happens instead (and this is no different from setting up a tank and adding fish right away) is that LFS tell people to set up the tank, leave it running for x amount of time, maybe to add some bacteria in a bottle. The fish are then added and there are actually no bacteria in the water, so ammonia and nitrite spike, the fish die. The person goes back to the LFS, where they are told the fish were from a bad batch and to buy replacements. Same thing happens, replacements die. 6-10 weeks later, the filer finally finished cycling and the fish do not die any more, but by now, the person has gone through 15-30 fish because their filter was not cycled.
For any sort of cycle (if you do not want the fish to come to harm), you will need your own liquid ammonia and nitrite test kits, a source of ammonia and dechlorinator.