How Much Of A Dose?

[CJH0825]

Starting a new tank. I bought some pure ammonia but not sure how much to dose it with. Anyone know?
 
It's a 30 gallon tall tank.

 

[ech0o]

here is a calculcator on fishforums for figuring out how much ammonia you will need to add, it should help you figure out exactly what you need.
 
http/www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.htm

 

[Essjay]

When you use that calculator, the default concentation is 5ppm. Change that to 3 or even 2ppm before calculating the dosage.

 

[CJH0825]

Thanks for the help!

 

[CJH0825]

I did the recommended dosage, And my ammonia level is 8ppm+. Is more ammonia good or bad? Wouldn't more ammonia create more bacteria?

 

[coolie]

You must have added too much Ammonia or done something wrong?

 

[CJH0825]

using that calculator, I added 3.60ml. It called for 3.67ml to bring it to 3ppm. Checked this morning and the level in the tank was 8+.

 

[coolie]

What's your % Ammonia and tank size?

 

[CJH0825]

The calculator had it at 9.5%

 

[coolie]

 
The calculator had it at 9.5%

 
I take it you were able to check the actual % on the Ammonia bottle used? They are all different.

 

[the_lock_man]

I would say that the ratio of ammonia to water in the bottle was stronger than the default setting on the calculator.
 
You don't want the ammonia level in the tank at 8ppm, it will encourage the wrong sort of bacteria to grow, do a 75% water change to get the level down to around 2-3ppm.

 

[CJH0825]

I would say that the ratio of ammonia to water in the bottle was stronger than the default setting on the calculator.
 
You don't want the ammonia level in the tank at 8ppm, it will encourage the wrong sort of bacteria to grow, do a 75% water change to get the level down to around 2-3ppm.

The ammonia bottle says it is 100% pure ammonia, No phosphates. I'll do a water change and get the levels down. Thanks!

 

[the_lock_man]

What it means by that is that there are no perfumes or surfactants in there, it's just ammonia solution. What you are looking for is the ratio between ammonia and water.
 
100% ammonia liquid would be too hazardous to be sold legally. Lord knows, the 9½% stuff that I got from Homebase smelt foul enough, I shudder to think what 100% ammonia would be like. The strongest I've ever seen is something around 30%, which was being sold specifically for fishless cycling. Household Ammonia for cleaning purposes doesn't need that level of strength (it's evil enough).

 

[coolie]

Yes, I agree. If it was 100%, it would want to turn to gas pretty quickly as it's boiling point in the minus 20s or 30s.

 

[CJH0825]

For general cleaning purposes mix 1/2 cup ammonia to 1 gallon of hot water is what it says. I just did a WC on it and the level is now down to 2 - 4ppm. On Sunday I'll do a 50% water change and check the ammonia level again.