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Is all-purpose household ammonia safe to cycle an aquarium with?
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
Yes, but BE CAREFUL when you get it--it must be "unscented" ammonia, which is hard to find some places. Some people are saying, "huh?" The questioner is asking about the "nitrogen cycle" of an aquarium. Fish pee has ammonia in it, like all pee does. (Yes, fish pee.) Bacteria in the tank will turn the ammonia into nitrite, which is less harmful to the fish than ammonia but still bad, and other ammonia turn nitrite to nitrate which is harmless. (And then, if you have a lot of plants, the nitrate will fertilize them.) There are better instructions on the internet, but the basics follow: You need to get an ammonia indicating card, some bottles of Cycle, which is a concentrated source of nitrifying bacteria, some unscented Parson's Ammonia, and an eyedropper. If you can't get any Cycle, go to a really good fish store and buy a bag of their water, which has bacteria in it. Pour the Cycle, or the fish store water, in the tank and add just enough ammonia to turn the indicator in the middle of the card dark. Then let the filters run. Keep doing this until the indicator shows "no ammonia" after eight hours. When it does that, you've got a nice colony of bacteria built up. At this point, change 90 percent of the water and add a couple of the least expensive fish you're going to keep.
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
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Should you worry about amonia in your new aquarium?
YES. Ammonia is the mostdetrimentalwaste that you could find in your tank. It can really harm your fish and species. It is all apart of the nitrogen cycle so the bestrecommendationfor high ammonia is to balance out this cycle by doing a water change or adding plants to the aquarium to produce oxygen to aid in the nitrogen cycle.
How can you tell if an aquarium has a fuctioning nitrate cycle?
You use a test kit and test for Nitrate/Nitrite/Ammonia. If you have either of the last two the cycle is not coping.
What cycle occurs in the aquarium?
Nitrogen Cycle occurs in the aquarium.Fish produce ammonia which is toxic. In a well established aquarium, Some beneficial bacteria will break down the ammonia into nitrite, and a second species of bacteria will break down nitrite into less harmful nitrate. The whole process of converting ammonia into nitrite and then into nitrate is called nitrogen cycle.Although, only well established fish tanks have this nitrogen cycle going normally.For new aquariums, fish keepers must do fishless nitrogen cycle before they add any fish at all, or the fish will risk dying to ammonia poisoning due to insufficient amount of good bacteria. The whole fishless nitrogen cycle process can take 6~8 weeks.
How do you cycle a fresh water aquarium?
The easiest way is to get a small number of extremely hardy fish, and put them in the tank for a few weeks. This should cycle the tank.AnswerThe best way is to do a fishless nitrogen cycle. As the name suggests, it is to cycle the aquarium without any fish in there. You need to have a source of ammonia, it can be done by simply adding fish food, or pieces of raw fish and shrimps. However, the most recommended way for a fishless nitrogen cycle is to use pure ammonia. Keep adding ammonia into the fish tank to ensure a concentration of 2~6ppm on daily basis. You will need a liquid water test kit for it. Once both ammonia and nitrite readings are 0ppm after you have added new ammonia on the same day, your tank is cycled. The entire process of fishless nitrogen cycle can take up to 6~8 weeks. There are certain tips to speed things up and cut off a few weeks.
What is an established aquarium?
An established aquarium is an aquarium that has gone through the nitrogen cycle. This is not "established" it is a "cycled" aquarium. The stage after cycling where the plants are reproducing and fish are growing successfully is an "established" aquarium. See related question on the nitrogen cycle.
Do you need to change the water in a fish pond?
Water pump does nothing for the aquarium. Aquarium filter on the other hand, does biological filtration for the tank. You need to understand the natural behind having a filter in the tank. It is for nitrogen cycle. Fish produce ammonia as waste, and some beneficial bacteria feed on ammonia will colonize the filter media. They convert ammonia into nitrite, then convert nitrite into nitrate. Ammonia and nitrite are both toxic. Nitrate is relatively harmless at low concentration, yet it can crash the PH and lower fish immune system if the concentration is too high. For a well maintained aquarium, we do partial water change of 30~50% once a week in order to keep nitrate in check, as well as to restore water buffer and minerals. To understand this better, you need to learn more about aquarium nitrogen cycle.
What does tank cycle mean?
If you refer to the cycle of an aquarium, it means a nitrogen cycle. Fish produce ammonia as natural waste, and it is toxic which will harm and kill themselves. In those well established tanks, good bacteria are in sufficient number to break down ammonia into nitrite, then convert nitrite into nitrate which is much less harmful. New fish tanks do not have enough of these beneficial bacteria. Thus, experienced fish keepers will do a nitrogen cycle before they add any fish at all. The safest and the most popular way to cycle a fish tank these days is to cycle the tank without any fish. It is called Fishless Nitrogen Cycle. In a Fishless Nitrogen Cycle, the best and fastest way to do it is to use pure ammonia. You just need to keep a constant source of ammonia on daily basis and wait for the bacteria to grow into sufficient number. The whole process can take over a month. You will need a water test kit for the fishless cycle. Once your test kit reads 0ppm for both ammonia and nitrite after you have added ammonia on the same day, your fishless nitrogen cycling has completed.
What is the best way to do fishless cycle in an aquarium?
Fishless cycle with pure ammonia and heavy bacteria seeding can be the fastest way to do to get a new fish tank ready for naturally occurring aquarium nitrogen cycle. Without it sufficient nitrogen cycle taking place in the fish tank, fish may die to ammonia poisoning within weeks.Get a good source of ammonia for fishless Cycle :Get a pure ammonia product from any hardware store. Make sure there is nothing else besides ammonia (usually ammonia hydroxide) and water in the bottle.Heavy bacteria seeding for fishless cycling :The form of bacteria seeding can be done with borrowing a piece of filter media from a well established (still currently running) aquarium, and stick it into your own filter system. It will give you both species of bacteria for converting both ammonia and nitrite from the very start. With such jump start, fishless cycling can be shortened to within two weeks from the usual six to eight weeks.There is a proven working commercial live bacteria product for heavy seeding in case you do not have access to a well established aquarium. It is called Tetra SafeStart. It is meant for fish-in cycle, but it works just well for fishless cycle. In fact, fishless cycle is still recommended even with heavy bacteria seeding from Tetra SafeStart. With this product, you can have your new fish tank cycled within days. Often time you can see nitrate reading the very next day.Other small things that can speed up fishless cycle :1. Raise water temperature to above 80F.2. Increase surface movement for more oxygen.3. Have a very efficient filter system.There is no fixed time for fishless cycling, but it can be as long as 6~8 weeks, or as short as a few days with the help of heavy seeding and all other tips applied together.
Should you put all your fish in the aquarium at the same time?
That is a question with a complicated answer but I'll try and be brief to allow you to do some additional research. The first and most important thing is ensuring you have allow your tank to complete it's nitrogen cycle. A quick google search on "cycling an aquarium" will walk you through this process. Now the the heart of your question, and why it's not a simple yes or no. Most people now practice what is called the "fishless" cycle, which employs some means of introducing ammonia into your aquarium to begin the nitrogen cycle. Most (not all) fishless cycled methods call for you to add your entire stocking list at the same time. However a "fish in" cycle in which special hardy species are fish are used to cycle the aquarium requires you to slowly stock the tank after the nitrogen cycle has completed.
Is ammonia part of the nitrogen cycle?
yes
How do you cure live rock?
Live rock is cured by putting it in the aquarium, with all the systems running, for several weeks until any die off has occured. You can monitor the cycle by testing for ammonia, which will spike first, and then nitrite, which will spike second. Once ammonia AND nitrite levels are back to zero, the liverock is cured.
Setting up a fresh water aquarium?
This is going to be a very long explanation. You Need:An aquarium - buy as large an aquarium as will fit in the proposed space. A kit with filter and light included is ideal, but you will need to buy these separately if they aren't included.Gravel - choose a mixture of medium to coarse gravel and very fine sand - you can buy non-clouding sand from the pet shop/lfs (local fish shop, common abbreviation I will use through article.)Non-living decorations - bogwood, stones etc. that you plan on using in your aquarium setup.Ammonia and ammonia, nitrite and nitrate testing kits.Water dechlorinator When you get the tank home:Position the aquarium. Rinse the gravel thoroughly with dechlorinated water until water runs clean. Aquascape gravel. Rinse ornaments and put them in place. Rinse filter media and put them in the filter. Fill aquarium with dechlorinated water.Go to www.fishforums.net and go to the beginner's forum. Read the article about fishless cycling.'Cycling' is a vital process referring to the nitrogen cycle. The biggest and most common mistake new aquarium enthusiasts make is adding fish to a new aquarium without cycling it first. Fish waste is ammonia, and ammonia is toxic. In an uncycled tank, ammonia will poison your fish. In a cycled aquarium, bacteria growing in the filter and the gravel convert ammonia to slightly less toxic nitrite, and nitrite into only slightly toxic nitrate which live plants will use.Often, cycling is done by putting some really tough fish in the aquarium to add ammonia and using them to cycle it, but this is a welfare issue. Fishless cycle is far preferable.Cycle Your Aquarium Before You Do Anything Else. While the tank is being cycled, you can probably start adding live plants if you want them in there. Once the tank is cycled and planted:Leave the tank run for three days after being cycled. (Cycling may take weeks, don't get impatient! Adding instant cycle products are not very reliable. Adding filter media (sponge, bioballs etc.) from a mature tank will speed cycle time).Now you can start adding fish. Stocking:Different species will be available depending on the setup, the size of the tank and what you like. I recommend guppies, platies and goldfish for beginners.
