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Cycling a new tank with ammonia


SirPsycho

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Im trying to find some ammonia to start off the cycling of my tank. (Will be re-doing everything after moving interstate)

Im having trouble finding it. Bunnings/Big-W/Woolworths didnt have it. I would have thought its available in the cleaning supplies section but I havent had much luck.

Where can I find it?

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When you move to your new destination,

put a post for some filter wool used so that you can start cycling with with it.

Their would be plenty of people out there that would be throwing the used wool away when doing water changes or wool changes.

cheers

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So ammonia is not available?

If not, cheers. Will do.

i am not sure if this would work i think it depends on time in bottle :dntknw: but what id say is when you clean your spunge from your filter botle all that sh*t , all that really dirty water ;) throw that in your new tank set up 1 litre or so in your filter that should get bacteria started :thumbup: if not just dont clean your filter before you take it were you are going

i think this is what were talking about :dntknw:

good luck with your move

if your looking for some thing botled go with the sh*t ;)

please let me know if it works :zipit:

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Woolworths and the like usually do stock it.

I've never used that method before as I prefer either using a fish or putting some fish food in the tank. Both have always worked extremely well for me. Any form of waste will do so you can even try out the dead prawn method but I don't rate it.

Foti, do a google search for 'fishless cycling ammonia' and you should get some returns with information about it. It does work but isn't as effective as using fish or fish food as said in an article on the PracticalFishKeeping website.

Arguably, organic material, such as a piece of fish or some fish food would be the ideal thing to use, since it would also encourage the growth of the heterotrophic bacteria that break down organic matter into ammonia.
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Yeah i would use my old filter media/water, but it will be out of circulation for some time before i can restart it all as Ill have to move into somewhere temporary before I can find a new house and set everything back up. I assume that all the bacteria will die without oxygen/water circulation for a couple weeks (or more).

I couldnt see anything at Woolies. Apparently you can sometimes find cloudy ammonia there, but that has detergent in it, which i dont want in my tank.

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Yeah the filter wool idea is only useful if it is transferred immediantely into the new filter. Using water from another tank doesn't help with cycling it only prevents shocking the fish.

I'd try using the fish food if you want to go fishless. It works a treat.

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Yeah ive heard the urine way....i'll figure something out. Whats supposed to be the quickest way? Waiting 2 or 3 weeks for things to get started is very frustrating!!

Damn terrorists and their damn banned chemical causing antics :(

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You can buy a 32% solution in 20L drums (possibly smaller sizes available but I don't know) from farming supply stores (eg CRT) and it's nasty stuff - it really takes your breath away like nothing else even being within a few metres of an open drum will make your eyes water - no wonder fish hate the stuff !!!.

I've cycled tanks with ammonia and ,"stability" next time I will use seachem's "stability" as it's safer and a lot less hassle

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BJ, if it's taking your breath away it's not good for you. I start a tanks by dropping a sponge filter in a tank thats already up and running for a few weeks. Just drop it into the new tank and away it goes.

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taking some bio media from another filter is the best way... just note the amount of water and qty of fish of the tank that you are taking the bio media from. i think some aquarium shops also sell pre-seeded bio media. i will never agree with rushing a filter tho.. so many things to go wrong

putting feeder fish in and cycling that for 4 - 6 weeks is usually the best idea. yes, 4 - 6 weeks.. that's 1,2,3,4,5,6 weeks!

otherwise do daily 10% water changes for the 6 weeks and you may be able to put fish in it.. good luck.

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