No ammonia available : (

[Slyspy]

Cannot find a source of ammonia here in the UK for a fishless cycle. Rather than bother the security services by constantly searching for ammonia and thus fertilizers I need another plan

I do not want to cycle with fish if possible since it may be harmful and it may leave me with a tough little fish that I do not really want in my little 30l tank.

So on to plan B: plants. If I plant the tank with a selction of tough plants that a noob like me can keep and add a cupful of gravel from an established tank would this do the job for me? Would commercially available products be a useful addition (or at least not harmful) and what timescale could I reasonably expect before the environment is ok for fish?

 

[Dragonslair]

Have you tried a pharmacy. Try asking the pharmicist. Tell them why you want a small quantity and they may be able to supply you with some.

 

[kev_kb]

I think I read on here that Boots sells it, but you may need to ask for it. Have you tried them?

I would consider cycling with fish also, of course this depends on what fish you want to keep, but at least think about it. My LFS sold me 8 Neon Tetras & 3 Albino Corys for my 1 week old brand new tank before I found this site. I then found this site and learnt about cycling. By keeping an eye on the levels and frequently water changing, oh and using a product called Cycle. I have now cycled my 20gal tank in around 3 weeks from when the fish were added and haven't had any losses as yet.

 

[Slyspy]

Tried the local places to no avail and got blank, uncomprehending looks in Boots. Think I'll have to follow plan B and add fish if necessary at this rate.

 

[clutterydrawer]

if you can add a decent amount of filter media/gravel froma well-established tank I don't really think you need to bother "cycling" at all, as long as you stock very gradually.

 

[a1wonder]

When I was looking for ammonia I was looking in all the wrong places, you shouldn't need to go to a pharmacist. You can usually pick it up in the cleaning aisle of grocery stores and dollar stores. Almost every place I've been to actually have it but I kept looking in the wrong places. You'd most likely be hard pressed to find it though in a gardening center or any pet shop as most pets stores around here anyways have never heard of fishless cycling.

 

[clutterydrawer]

The sale of ammonia is restricted here for some reason look in a hardware store ( a private-owned one, not a chain) that's where i found mine.

 

[The-Wolf]

The sale of ammonia is restricted here for some reason

That is because it can be used to make very powerful explosives
I'd give you the recipie but then I'd be charged under the
anti-terrorisum act.

 

[Scales]

SLyspy

Whats your location? I have pure lab grade ammonia here, if your local to me you can have some.

 

[clutterydrawer]

The sale of ammonia is restricted here for some reason

That is because it can be used to make very powerful explosives
I'd give you the recipie but then I'd be charged under the
anti-terrorisum act.

Awww go on, I'll swap it for a brownie recipe no one needs to know

 

[toggle]

since ammonia is fish poop and left over food...

why dont you order a chinese, get drunk...urinate in a bowl and in the morning add your left over chinese to the stale wee then mix it up..and just add a tablespoon to your tank, lol

 

[Montyfish]

why dont you order a chinese, get drunk...urinate in a bowl and in the morning add your left over chinese to the stale wee then mix it up..and just add a tablespoon to your tank, lol

If only I had thought of that before I cycled my tank with fish...

 

[clutterydrawer]

i did hear of someone who used to pee in his tank to cycle it, actually

however if you're gonna do that you'd be better off using cat wee, it's a got a very high concentration of ammonia compared to human wee. eww, the thigns I know...

 

[toggle]

 

[CathyG]

i did hear of someone who used to pee in his tank to cycle it, actually

however if you're gonna do that you'd be better off using cat wee, it's a got a very high concentration of ammonia compared to human wee. eww, the thigns I know...

LMAO!

I have also heard of people using their own urine...but I would not recommend anyone empty a full bladder into their tank! A couple of drops only!