Arrrggghhh...

[Don155]

So I was 2.5 weeks into my fishless cycle, and wondering why my Ammonia levels haven't budged from the 5 ppm I started with. Also getting no Nitrite spike, not even a HINT of Nitrites... So I recheck the Ammonia bottle ingredients and look a bit closer:

Water, Ammonium Hydroxide and Surfactant.

Search Internet and forums for "Surfactant". Discover its BAD for fishless cycle.

Grrrrr....

2 weeks ago I found this Ammonia "Everclear" in my local Fry's Food and Drug. Did casual "shake test" and got a few big bubbles which burst immediately. Cool, this is what I need. Wrong. Shook the cr*p out of it today and found that it foams if shaken HARD but not if shaken casually.


So my new Phython got a workout sooner than I expected, I changed ALL the water, rinsed the tank, the one big rock, plants, and filter equipment really well with fresh water and a soft brush. Then I dumped all of the gravel and filter media and replaced it with new stuff. So, I must start over from square one. <sigh>

Guess I'll be waiting a bit longer to add some fish.


Note - NO fish were harmed by this NEWB mistake!! B)


Hopefully this post will spare some other Newbie from the same mistake. I did a bit of research about fishless cycling before starting, but missed the part about "Surfactants" in the Ammonia cleaners. That was a painful lesson, my wife looked at me like I was crazy for restarting the whole thing, but at least no fishies were hurt and none will get hurt as a result of my blunder...




-Don T.

 

[sylvia]

Oh well I'm shure it'll be ok this time round BTW, have you found another source of ammonia? If not, just use some fish food - it'll produce ammonia as it rots and you'll just need to keep adding a little every few days and syphon all the leftovers out at the end of your cycle before you add the fish

 

[Don155]

Oh well I'm shure it'll be ok this time round BTW, have you found another source of ammonia? If not, just use some fish food - it'll produce ammonia as it rots and you'll just need to keep adding a little every few days and syphon all the leftovers out at the end of your cycle before you add the fish

Hi, have a question now: Exactly how much fish food would I need to use and what kind of food would be best for this? My tank is 29 gallons BTW. I know the amount of pure ammonia used can vary due to the concentration of ammonia in the product, but it seems fish food would be a bit more... consistent in regards to amounts added.

 

[Don155]

I looked in a local Ace hardware store that someone pointed out before. Found Ace's "Janitorial Strength" Ammonia. No ingredients listed but it does say "Contains 10% Ammonium Hydroxide" I shook the cr*p out of this one and no foam, so I bought it.

Can anyone confirm that this Ace Hardware ammonia is good to use?


Thanks,

-Don

 

[dthoffsett]

I used Walmart's Great Value clear ammonia brand on two of my tanks.