Pee In Your Aquarium?

[InaneCathode]

Try to follow me here:

I'm assuming (big leap here) that animals all make, essentially, the same kind of pee. Fish pee is ammonia (among other things). Human pee is ammonia (among other things).

If fish pee is comprised partly of urea (two ammonia molecules stuck together) and is usable by the nitrifying bacteria in an aquarium, than human pee (which is comprised partly of urea which is usable by the nitriyfing bacteria in an aquarium) should be roughly equivalent.

Would it then (barring the disgustingness of peeing in your aquarium [via cup or not, still, ew.]) be safe to say that human pee would bring about the same biological processes that occur in a fully matured tank the same as fish pee would?

If that's then true, then i'd suggest any open minded individual who's lacking in sources for ammonia for fishless cycling to:
Pee in your aquarium.


PS Has this ever been tried? I think this might warrant further research!

 

[andywg]

This has been done many times and with much success, even in marine aquaria. You are correct that humine urine does contain ammonia and this is available for the bacteria colony we try to culture.

As to how you would moniter the levels of ammonia being put in, I am unsure.

 

[InaneCathode]

This has been done many times and with much success, even in marine aquaria. You are correct that humine urine does contain ammonia and this is available for the bacteria colony we try to culture.

As to how you would moniter the levels of ammonia being put in, I am unsure.

Seriously? Wow, i thought of this on my own too

To measure i'd imagine as with any ammonia source you'd measure the change in ppm in your tank after adding specific amounts of urine.

Another question (anyone answer if you want) wikipedia says urea is 10,000 times less toxic than ammonia. If it's so inert, why is fish pee so toxic to fish? Is there something in the water chemistry that breaks apart urea molecules?

 

[Squid]

Would you need to avoid going to the pub the night before you pee'd into your tank? hehehe

Squid

 

[andywg]

Another question (anyone answer if you want) wikipedia says urea is 10,000 times less toxic than ammonia. If it's so inert, why is fish pee so toxic to fish? Is there something in the water chemistry that breaks apart urea molecules?

I do not believe fish excrete urea in the same ways as we do, so much as urea is expelled as well as ammonia being lost by the chemical reactions occuring at the gills of a fish. A fish's waste is not just from urine. When I get home I can check a couple of books that have far more detail on this than I can recall right now.

 

[LucyHurst]

I'd try to watch what you eat and drink for a couple of days before.. dont want any E numbers and other weird things going in your tank..

..I might try it one day though..

 

[Underwurlde]

Ha! And keep off the weed too, as your fish may start hangin'

 

[timmystood]

I've often wandered if peeing in a tank would have this effect! I've never got enough guts to actually ask anyone though!

 

[vic]

I have heard of this method of fish less cycling however, I have always been very fearful of losing my footing on the ladder and doing a damage to the exposed parts.

 

[DazedNCoNfUsEd]

LOL, Just hope you don't have roomates... that would be one hell of an explanation if they walked in on that!

 

[Bignose]

From The Skeptical Aquarist's pages ( http/www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/star.../fishless.shtml )

I raised some eyebrows when I revealed in a web forum that I hadn't been ransacking my neighborhood in a search for a pure non-sudsing ammonia with no added dyes and perfumes, when I could always produce at least a few drops of a completely natural, though more personal, source of ammonia. The truth is, long before the nitrating cycle was community knowledge, I have always begun new planted aquaria by adding a few tablespoons of my urine. Good grief! The uproar at AquariaCentral sent me back to the books. I soon found out that urine actually has a very small NH3 content. Urine has a specific gravity of about 1.017-1.020, owing to its dissolved solids, about 60% of which are organic substances. Besides ammonia, those organics include urea, uric acid, and creatine, which are all bacterially decomposed to form carbon dioxide--— and more ammonia. The other 40% of the dissolved solids in urine are inorganic Na, Cl, (the "salt" content), K, PO4 and SO4. Frankly, it all sounds to me like stuff you'd be adding anyway. There are no bacteria in healthy urine. Nevertheless, people at the forum were more appalled than I could ever have expected. Some expressed their squeamishness in terms of "dangers." As far as I could tell, the greatest danger in this technique is of falling off the stepladder (heh heh heh). I was disappointed that no one asked how I had the control to fill just one tablespoon!

I actually doubt that "there is no bacteria in healthy urine" since bacteria have a way of showing up everywhere -- though I fully accept that I may be very wrong. What it does look like is that there is only a small amount of ammonia, definately a smaller proportion in compared with fish waste. How much does it add up to? I have no idea. Maybe someone would use their ammonia test kit? I'm sorry, but I am not volunteering for that.

 

[carpus]

wouldent it make your water yellow

ive heard of people using urine to help grow plants.

 

[InaneCathode]

wouldent it make your water yellow

ive heard of people using urine to help grow plants.

Imagine how much ammonia from a bottle you'd add to your tank, that's roughly the same amount of urine you'd add. To make your tank yellow would be to add WAY too much urine.

Urine afaik contains tonnes of phosphates and nitrates, those being plant fertilizers.


Also, healthy urine is completely sterile.

 

[QuotheRaven]

Infact Urine is cleaner than your saliva it's true infact your saliva apparently contains some urine....I think... :\

 

[Majjie]

If you've got urine in your saliva - you've got problems! Uric acid on the other hand is quite likely at low levels or if you're suffering from dehydration or kidney failure or gout! Just nit picking I know.

Urine is only sterile when it's in your bladder - it picks up bacteria as it passes out of your body - from your skin. I think I'll stick to bottled ammonia, anyway