Cycle

[Clammie]

I called the LFS to see if they sell ammonia and the man on the phone told me I could buy 'cycle' from them.
He said that would help with the cycle.
I have my new fish tank coming tomorrow and I can't get hold of ammonia anywhere.
He said it was £7 a bottle and everything in there is usually priced way to high, but it seems to stock a lot of stuff and is good if I can't wait for a delivery of something.

Would anyone recommend this for cycling the tank??
If not, anyone from Liverpool, UK know where I can find ammonia?

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Clammie,

We're all familiar with the "great adventure" of finding the right ammonia. Its not easy! No, you don't want to waste your money on a bottled bacteria product like your LFS will try to sell. The LFS will usually not understand at all what your talking about with a fishless cycle. In the UK (and surely this will hold true for Liverpool!) the top choice is Boots (or Boots online, but save that for after checking a number of local places.) Another possibility is Homebase (I think its white plastic with dark blue trim and cap.) Also B&Q or Robert Dyas have been mentioned. In most cases the ammonia is a store brand except I think Jeyes KleenOff has a line of ammonia products, one of which is plain like we need.

Understand that its normally sold for house cleaning, so its often in the mops and brooms section. In any store you visit its good to take a dual approach: always search the store despite what a clerk tells you.. but also do the opposite and if your search as not found household ammonia be sure to ask clerks and managers. The stuff you want is really 90% water and 9.5% or so ammonia (so its also called "aqueous ammonia.") It must not have dyes, fragrances, surfactants or soaps in it. If you can see it, its a good test to shake it and make sure it does not foam. The bubbles should only last 2 or 3 seconds just as if you'd shaken plain water.

Don't stress about not finding it right away. You can work also on setting up your tank and getting the filter running and learning to use the liquid-reagent test kit. Its so important to find the right ammonia that its worth some extra time to find it. Lately, Boots seems to be quickly solving most members problems over in the UK, while Ace Hardware and been doing it for the USA.

Good luck and let us know... we enjoy the adventure,
~~waterdrop~~

 

[Clammie]

Thanks for the quick reply.
I've found it on Boots online but when I asked in store if they sold it, they looked at me in a really strange way and told me "I don't think we'd sell a product like that". Silly people.
So I went onto the pharmacy section and asked there (when I added to basket online it showed up at a pharmaceutical), but they gave me the same strange look and told me they don't stock it.
There's two Boots stores in the city centre so I'll try the other one tomorrow morning and see if I can either come home with ammonia or receive the same odd look as the other store.
If not I'll try Homebase, although I didn't find it on their website.

The only problem with setting my tank up properly is money.
I work shifts for minimum wage and don't earn much.
It's enough paying for a new tank and cabinet without all the extras!
I have a 200 litre tank downstairs with an Eheim 2217, which I'm currently using for turtles.
It'll be a sad day, but they have to go. I can't afford the new lights and bits & bobs they need for the new tank and their current tank isn't nearly big enough for the two of them.
As soon as they are gone, I'll clear out the Eheim and set it up with new media for the new tank.
Coincidentally, if anyone in the UK wanted to take two adult YBS males from me for nothing, feel free to message me!
Until then, though, I'm going to have a bare, empty tank!

The other thing I wanted to ask is if this sand would be a suitable substrate for my new tank?
It's only £3.98 for 25KG! Much better than the prices the LFS are asking for.
Is it the same kind of stuff, or would I need to buy silver sand or something similar?

 

[waterdrop]

There's off and on been concern that some retailers may be screening ammonia sales because it can apparently be used in bomb making. I have no idea whether this might explain the strange looks or whether some clerks just can't imagine what they themselves would use it for. Most members have never been able to decide whether explaining about using it to start aquariums would make the interaction better or worse!

All I know about the sand is that many members recommend play sand because it gets checked and cleaned up better because of planned use with children.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Clammie]

I had hoped I didn't look like the sort of person who was planning to make a bomb!
I did explain that it was called 'Household Ammonia', that it's on the website and it is used for cleaning, but still I got the strange looks.
I tried a local store where the girl asked me what I was going to use it for and I tried to explain I was using it in my aquarium and what it does, but she just asked if I was using it to clean the glass and that I should just try using any glass cleaner.
But as I said, I'll hunt around for it tomorrow and let you know if I can find it.

I seem to have read a posts about people using play sand, but I think I've also read a few posts about it containing silica, making it harmful to fish? Correct me if I'm wrong there.
I'll have to check the bags when I get to the store and see what it says.

 

[waterdrop]

As far as I know, silica -is- sand and therefor just fine. Playsand is definately the most popular low-price way that members who want sand get sand I think. WD

 

[Clammie]

Must just be posts from over worrying people then.
Thanks again for the input, I'll let you know how it all goes.

Chris.

 

[waterdrop]

OK Chris, have a great weekend - WD

 

[upsy daisy]

Clammie, Boots sells ammonia for sure, because that's where I bought it from just 2 weeks ago. It cost around 1.75 if I remember correctly. They even had caustic soda, whatever you use that for!

 

[Clammie]

Thank you
I'm going to try the other boots stores near me today as well as others in the city centre.
If I can't find it I'll just order it online

 

[OohFeeshy]

It's not in the pharmacy bit, there's usually a small 'household' section somewhere around. They also had things like soap flakes, caustic soda. Maybe try asking where the 'houshold cleaning' section is first, you might have more luck.

 

[fishy55]

Hi There,

I bought some ammonia no trouble in Homebase a couple of months ago - £1.99 for 500ml, 9.5% strength on the household cleaning section. It is in a white bottle with a blue lid. 500ml will last ages as I put 4ml each time into my tank which has 76l of water in it. Get some rubber gloves as well.

It smells absolutely awful, so be prepared or buy a nose peg.

I also bought one of those medicine syringe things you use for babies (ask for them on the pharmacy counter). I think mine cost about £1.20. It means you don't have to tip the bottle onto a spoon and risk splashing it everywhere and also means you can get the lid back on as quickly as possible and not smell it for so long. I also use it (after washing it thoroughly) for getting the water out of tank and into the test tubes to do the water testing.

Good luck with it all. I have been doing fishless cycling for 5 weeks now and it slowly getting there. I am really looking forward to some fish though.

Fishy55

 

[Essjay]

Make sure you ask for an oral medicine syringe if you want to get one. If you just ask for a syringe, you may get more funny looks - they'll be thinking you want it for 'illegal substances'

 

[Clammie]

Still nothing.
I've been to 3 Boots stores, 2 B&Q stores, Homebase and Halfords.
Asked the staff and had a look around. Can't find ammonia anywhere!

I got 'play-pit sand' from B&Q £3.79 a bag.
Guess I'll have to order the ammonia online then.
Unless anyone near me has a bottle I could borrow or buy from them?

 

[Dan-CR4]

the first boots i went to, did not have it but a larger boots store did, i think its just the luck of the draw with finding it at boots. The play pit sand you got from b&q will need washing thoroughly, as thats what i bought. it really needs cleaning but once its done it looks great in the tank.