[Fishless Cycling] Ammonia... where to get it?

[Arcteryx]

I haven't looked... but is pure ammonia easy to find? Can I find a jug at, say, Save-On, or at a pharmacy somewhere?

[Diztrbd1]

you can get it there I believe or just pee in the tank lol there are other products you can use use like Seachem stability, Cycle and a couple others that I can't remember the name of at the moment

here's a few other ways it can be done:
4 Ways To Cycle A Freshwater Aquarium | Aquariums Life

You can also do a search here for fishless cycle to bring up the other threads that have been posted with plenty of useful info

[Arcteryx]

This is like the 2nd time today somebody has told me to pee in the tank. OK seriously who has cycled their tank by peeing in it, I wanna know, own up!

[Diztrbd1]

lmao, wasn't me......I know I read it somewhere is the only reason I said it lol

[fuzzysocks]

You can also use flake food to cycle. You'll only want to throw in a tiny pinch at a time, and throw in flakes every once in a while (not sure of the exact timing, but I think it's every few days) to continue to feed the bacteria that grow. I've heard of tanks (mostly marine, though) being cycled by throwing in a frozen cocktail prawn, though it's going to smell quite unpleasant.

Ditztrib1's first suggestion also works pretty well if you're trying to cycle on the cheap...just don't go overboard.

[2wheelsx2]

Probably at drugstores or janitorial supplies. This is probably the stuff: 0 London Drugs Household Ammonia - 1.8L ;Homeware ;Cleaning Supplies ;London Drugs

Just want to check there's nothing else in it but ammonia.

[mcrocker]

I did fish-less cycling with ammonia to start up a 180 gallon a while ago. It worked perfectly, MUCH faster than the 4+ weeks quoted on some guides I read. A bit of media I used to seed it may have helped, but I think mine took less than 2 weeks from when I first added ammonia. My fish were mostly cichlids, so fairly hardy, but I had no deaths or signs of health issues whatsoever.

I bought regular no-name brand ammonia. Make sure there is no coloring or scent added, and shake it to see if there are surfactants or additives. If any bubbles or foam that form from shaking disappear quickly, there are probably no surfactants.

They don't specifically list ingredients on the one I bought, but it definitely worked for me. There are really no guarantees what goes into those products though...

[2wheelsx2]

A bit of media I used to seed it may have helped, but I think mine took less than 2 weeks from when I first added ammonia.

If you have seeded media, you don't really need a fishless cycle, because the cycle is already complete. Just add fish and they'll be your source of ammonia. Keep the feeding low and do some water changes and you're good to go.

[mcrocker]

If you have seeded media, you don't really need a fishless cycle, because the cycle is already complete. Just add fish and they'll be your source of ammonia. Keep the feeding low and do some water changes and you're good to go.

My logic was that while I might have a small dose of bacteria in the piece of media I seeded with, it would not be a large enough colony to handle the bio load of all the fish I was adding, and I would still have an ammonia or nitrite spike if I added all fish at once or too many at once. I can't remember exactly what level of ammonia I was dosing to, (4 PPM stands out in my mind, not sure if that is right) but in the beginning I was not getting back down to 0 ammonia with a 24 hour period. After 10 days it was eliminating the ammonia in well under a day, probably within hours.

[2wheelsx2]

Sure, it never hurts to increase the colony. And in your case, if you didn't have very much media, it certainly helped.