nikkirenee

I've read through many threads and articles about fishless cycling and it's pretty obvious that's the best way to go. With that said, I have been to Wal-mart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace hardware, Publix (grocery store), Dollar Tree, and Walgreens in the last two days (all with a 17 month old in tow) with no luck in my quest for ammonia without surfecants.

I would love to hear any suggestions about where else to try. I'm anxious to start the process soon but obviously, I want to do it the right way. I'm in the Nashville area if that helps.

Thanks!

chickadee

Sorry you went to all that trouble. I use the plain old fashioned ammonia and it does have surfactant in it. I do not think it is available any other way. The ammonia I used has never caused me a problem and I believe the others who have used this type of product do not have a problem with it either. The only thing I do differently is to do a larger water change before adding my fish. (50% - 75%)

Rose

nikkirenee

Thanks for the response Rose. I thought I had read that surfactant was bad? The Publix brand ingredients are ammonium hydroxide and sufactant-- so this would be alright to use?

Here's the link I found that talks about surfactants-- it's about halfway down the page under the heading "sources of ammonia": http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Fishlesscycle.htm

eta the link

chickadee

While I do realize that the ammonia without the surfactants is better, but as he mentioned it is not available to many of us. The household ammonia now sold has that as an ingredient. When I cycled my tank I did not have access to Bio-spira and needed to do it in a hurry. I have used this ammonia with the surfactant several times and have not had a problem.

I cannot tell you to go ahead or not to as that will have to be your decision. The only thing I can do is say that my fish did okay with it and I do not believe that it hurt them. I think with a good water change before adding the fish and taking a sample of the water after the change and shaking it in a container to see if there is foaming, (never did for me) it will tell you about the amount of the surfactant left in the water if any.

There will be people who disagree with me but I really think that it is a practice I will continue unless I run into a problem with it down the road. I do use Bio-spira for immediate cycles now but I would not hesitate to use the ammonia again in my tanks.

Rose

nikkirenee

Again, thank you Rose for the quick replies. I will probably go ahead and use the Publix brand since you've had luck with something similar. I might also look into Bio-spira to see if I can find someone locally who carries it.

Thanks again!