Has anybody used this ammonia?

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That's a silent or plant cycle, and many newcomers don't want live plants. In this case, a fishless cycle using ammonia is better than cycling with fish.
 
@emualex You mention having plants in the tank - how many and what type? If there are a lot of fast growing plants, they will 'cycle' the tank.
 
That's a silent or plant cycle, and many newcomers don't want live plants. In this case, a fishless cycle using ammonia is better than cycling with fish.
Plants are vital to tank balance and to fishes well-being.
What is better for fish is patience.
 
Many people want plastic or silk plants. They want dayglo decor so plastic plants give the colour they want; the tank is for their children who want Spongebob decor and no plants; they are scared of live plants thinking they won't be able to keep them alive. And many other reasons.
 
Many people want plastic or silk plants. They want dayglo decor so plastic plants give the colour they want; the tank is for their children who want Spongebob decor and no plants; they are scared of live plants thinking they won't be able to keep them alive. And many other reasons.
A lot of these people need to be educated into what makes a stable healthy environment for keeping fish. The tank you describe above is for advanced hobbyists.
 
Many people want plastic or silk plants. They want dayglo decor so plastic plants give the colour they want; the tank is for their children who want Spongebob decor and no plants; they are scared of live plants thinking they won't be able to keep them alive. And many other reasons.
What a pity and sadness. Especially when we know how education is important to children and the way our planet is suffocating because of plastic and derivatives...
 
When I first had fish it never occurred to me that I could have live plants, mine were plastic :blush: I tried a few live plants but they all died - even duckweed. I swapped all the plastic plants for silk ones, then finally discovered live plants that didn't die. So now I have only wood and live plants as decor in my tanks.
I was sceptical of claims that plants can remove all the ammonia made by fish, but when I set up my quarantine tank last year I used only live plants, and a small filter filled with filter floss just to move the water round. I never saw any ammonia or nitrite. If I were to set up another permanent tank, I would definitely do a silent (plant) cycle now.
 
You could try ammonia chloride. It is sold for use in aquariums.

There is also ammonia carbonate a solid that was once commonly used as baking powder.

I have not used these products but they are probably the best choice today for pure source of ammonia. Nearly everything you buy in stores has additives which you don't want in an aquarium.

A third option is to use urea CO(NH2)2. I have read and verified that when urea is dissolved in water and heated to a boil it converts to ammonia. I have not cycled a tank since I have learned this so I have not tried it. But I have used solid urea carefully in my aquarium as a source of nitrogen fertilizer. Which does work well.
 
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That's a silent or plant cycle, and many newcomers don't want live plants. In this case, a fishless cycle using ammonia is better than cycling with fish.


Using plants does keep ammonia ammonia down but it doesn't really cycle the tank. The plants simply consume the ammonia first. So ammonai consuming bacteria may not colonize the tank. But for this to work you need to be sure your plants are growing well before you add fish. If the plants cannot grow due to a nutrient deficiency they will not consume ammonia. A lot ofpeole have problems gettting plants to grow. So I wouldn't recommend doing this unless you have experience growing plants.
 
I agree, this is the reason I always mention fishless cycling first for a new fish keeper. When I first had fish I could not keep plants alive, and that included duckweed!

I know the tank doesn't cycle as such with plants as only a minimal amount of bacteria grow in the background. I am also aware that these micro-organisms are not all bacteria. But using the words 'cycling' and 'bacteria' as catch-all terms keeps it simpler for newcomers to the hobby, who have a lot to take in.
 
Cycling my second tank (to be a planted shrimp/rabbit snail tank) and got tired of watching fish food decompose without giving me enough ammonia, so I got this.
View attachment 139812
It doesn't have a fragrance/soap smell, but there was no ingredient list on the bottle. After some internet digging, it has
water, ammonium hydroxide, tetrasodium EDTA, sodium C10-16 Alkylbenzenesulfonate, Sodium Xylene.
I'm kind of hitting a wall researching these chemicals. the only definitive answer i've gotten is that tetrasodium edta is fine for shrimp but that a close chemical relative of it is used as a pesticide for snails.
very confused, tired of watching fish food melt into my gravel, and not feeling that week of shipping for the aquarium-specific ammonia off of amazon.
Clear ammonia = good
Cloudy ammonia = dead everything

GL
 

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