Ammonia For Fishless Cycling

[LauraFrog]

Basically I can't get it and it's driving me nuts. The threads about where to get it all relate to the US/UK not Australia. I've searched everywhere and all I can find is cloudy ammonia. It has no ingredients list, but it's slimy and foams up when you shake it. The ammonia in it is NH4OH, which I've been informed by the local university's chemistry master is just the form it takes when dissolved in water and should work to cycle a tank.

Is there any way I can extract pure ammonia from this? What's the boiling point of ammonia? Or can I just use it straight?

 

[Corleone]

If it foams, it's got a surfactant in it, and it won't work. I doubt you could boil it out, you'd probably boil the water and ammonia off before the soap. Try hardware stores, if you haven't, I've had better luck finding the right stuff there.

 

[OldMan47]

You might try a drug store / chemist. Any that they have will probably not have surfactants in it. In that kind of store it might cost more than at a hardware store but a 250ml bottle is a many years supply.